UN Commission Accuses Israel of Crimes Against Humanity in West Bank

An independent international commission of inquiry mandated by the United Nations said on Monday that Israel has committed crimes against humanity against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including extermination. The commission added that Israel is continuing to carry out genocide in the Gaza Strip.

According to the commission’s findings, Israeli authorities and forces committed several such crimes in the West Bank. It listed them as follows:

“Crimes against humanity of extermination, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as persecution, based on intersecting discriminatory grounds centred on nationality, race and ethnicity.”

Israel rejected the conclusions within hours of their release. Its ambassador in Geneva described the report as “an attempt to destroy the Jewish state” and “to deny its fundamental right to exist.”

The commission was established in 2021. Last year it had already concluded that Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza, a finding Israeli authorities dismissed at the time as “false” and “antisemitic”. The same terms have now been used to describe the new accusations concerning the West Bank.

The report was released a day before Israel’s legislative elections, scheduled for Tuesday, October 27.