Palestinian civilians are trapped between escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank and fear-based Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, according to investigators appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in a new report released on 9 June 2026. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel said Palestinians are being systematically and deliberately subjected to severe violations of human rights law by all parties to the conflict. The findings will be presented to the Human Rights Council’s 62nd session on 15 June in Geneva. The report documents abuses across both territories. It also raises concerns about attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups.
The Commission was appointed by the Council in May 2021 to investigate violations in the region. Its three Commissioners are neither UN staff nor do they receive payment for their work. The body’s mandate covers human rights, international humanitarian law and underlying causes of recurring tensions. Its latest findings draw on incidents documented in the West Bank and Gaza. The report frames the violations as occurring within environments engineered by Israel.
In the West Bank, the report warned that settler attacks continue to rise, with at least seven Palestinians killed and 832 injured last year — a 130 per cent increase over 2024. It found that Israeli authorities are directly involved in settler attacks through financial and military support and by granting impunity from prosecution. Settler violence functions as a means of implementing Israeli State policy, working toward entrenchment of settlements, annexation of Palestinian territory and displacement of Palestinians. The Commission documented cases of settlers assaulting, abducting and abusing Palestinian children while playing outside, going to school or tending animals. Sexual violence has also been used to instil fear, including in a March incident in Khirbeit Humsa where women and girls were beaten and threatened with rape.
In Gaza, the Commission identified 249 cases of executions and severe physical violence between 2024 and 2025, with at least 108 deaths and 384 injured. Hamas-affiliated forces were involved in at least 60 of the incidents, including two public executions of 11 men.
“These cases involved executions, kneecapping, bone-breaking with metal pipes or cement bricks and beatings and were framed by the perpetrators as punishments for alleged collaboration with Israel,” the report said.
Commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said Hamas’ punitive measures inflict profound trauma on an already severely traumatized civilian population. He added that “any future framework for peace and stability in Gaza must include a clear and enforceable commitment to accountability.”
The investigators also pointed to a notable increase in the killing and harming of Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups and individuals in 2023. They raised serious concerns that these attacks constitute a violation of the principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes. The report’s findings highlight the need to ensure the protection of civilians and accountability for violations by all parties. It includes additional recommendations for consideration by the Human Rights Council. The Commission’s submission to the 62nd session is scheduled for 15 June in Geneva.
