UN Inquiry: 1,143 West Bank Deaths in Three Years

Between October 7, 2023, and October 9, 2026, 1,143 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. At least 250 of those victims were children, data included in a new report issued by a United Nations-mandated investigative body.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory stated on Monday that Israel has committed crimes against humanity in the territory. The panel specifically identified extermination, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence as central to its findings. It described Israeli military operations, reinforced by sustained settler violence, as a widespread and systematic attack against civilians.

The commission, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, noted that the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated gravely since the Hamas attack in October 2023. The investigators concluded that Israeli authorities intended to collectively punish West Bank civilians due to that attack. This report follows a September 2025 determination by the same body that Israel had committed genocide in its war on Gaza, a finding Israel rejects.

Israeli officials responded to the new report with sharp criticism. The Israeli mission in Geneva called the document part of a misinformation campaign designed to demonize the state and portray its existence as criminal. In a statement, the mission urged the international community to reject the findings and demand the immediate dissolution of the commission. The report was released the day before Israel's general election.

The timing of the release coincided with an active military clampdown in Hebron, where Israeli forces carried out expulsions and demolitions following a gun attack last week. The three-member team includes former South African High Court judge Navi Pillay, who chaired the investigation until November 2025 and won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month.

The report covers killings and bodily or mental harm caused by both Israeli and Palestinian security forces since October 2023. While the commission does not speak for the UN itself, it found that persecution was based on intersecting discriminatory grounds, with nationality, race, and ethnicity at its core. Gaza's Health Ministry reported that the Israeli military offensive on Gaza has displaced nearly the entire population and killed more than 74,500 people.