The UN has called on Israel to take all measures to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and to end its unlawful presence in the occupied West Bank.
Additionally, it urged all parties to the conflict in Gaza to implement the ceasefire and take action to bring a permanent end to hostilities. This comes as the war’s death toll has neared 73,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, according to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israeli Violations
In a new report documenting violations committed during the Gaza war, the UN Human Rights Office said that Israel’s conduct in Gaza since October 7, 2023 have involved “gross violations” of international humanitarian law, which amounted to war crimes and other atrocity crimes in many cases.
Moreover, it noted that systematic destruction in Gaza and northern West Bank, severe movement restrictions, and forced displacement of Palestinians with strong indications that Israel intends their displacement to be permanent, have raised urgent concerns that Israel is executing a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
In light of this, the report highlighted a dual goal for Israel: the collective punishment of Palestinians and the forced displacement, emptying and ethnic cleansing of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory to allow further settlement and annexation.
Despite a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel taking effect in October 2025, “killings and the destruction of infrastructure have continued on an almost daily basis, and the overall humanitarian situation remains dire,” head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, Ajith Sunghay, said.
Gaza Siege
The report, which analyzed the war in Gaza through May 2025, identified intense Israeli sieges as a primary cause of unlivable conditions for Palestinians.
It specifically highlighted the military’s large-scale assault and siege on North Gaza from October 6, 2024, to January 19, 2025, as an event that threatened the group’s continued survival in the region.
“During the reporting period, the Israeli blockade on Gaza resulted in starvation and famine that was foretold and later confirmed. Hundreds starved to death, including children,” Sunghay said in a press conference on Monday.
“Any use of starvation as a method of war against civilians is a war crime, and it may amount to a crime against humanity and even genocide in certain conditions,” the UN official noted.
The report also condemned Hamas other Palestinian armed groups for committing serious violations on October 7, 2023, some of which amounted to war crimes.
Settlement Expansion
The report pointed to “coercive and discriminatory Israeli practices” in the West Bank, an alarming surge in the use of force against Palestinians, and intensified Israeli settlement activity.
In this context, Sunghay cited unprecedented rates of forced displacement of Palestinians and Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank. He also said that Israeli military and police forces, alongside settlers, are killing more Palestinians with impunity.
“In the West Bank, Israeli forces and settlers have killed 1,096 Palestinians since 7 October 2023, one in five of them children. Many incidents raise concerns about unlawful killings and extrajudicial executions,” he stated, adding that settlements increased by 80% since the government took office.
Genocidal Acts
Sunghay said that “Israel unleashed devastating violence and dispossession in Gaza and the West Bank, committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.”
The report found that the totality of Israeli conduct in Gaza raises serious concern about Israel’s compliance with its obligation to prevent acts within the scope of the Genocide Convention.
“The chronicle of violence and injustice continues, and will impact Palestinians for generations to come,” Sunghay said.
Israel has faced mounting accusations of committing genocide in Gaza. In September 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts.
Genocide Prevention
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, called upon Israel to take all measures to prevent the commission of acts of genocide and to end all discriminatory and unlawful practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including collective punishment.
Furthermore, he urged Israel to end its unlawful presence in the Palestinian territory, ensure that all displaced Palestinians are allowed to return to their homes and the unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.
The UN Human Rights chief called upon Hamas and Palestinian armed groups to cease firing indiscriminate projectiles. He also urged the parties to the conflict to fully comply with the ceasefire and take meaningful steps to end the war.
Moreover, he called on all states to halt the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel.
