Commission Extends Genocide Finding Into Ceasefire Period
A United Nations commission has found that Israel continued to commit genocide in Gaza even after the US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect in October 2025, according to a report published on Monday, October 27, 2026. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined conduct by Israeli authorities and forces across the period from October 7, 2023 through September 30, 2026 — the most comprehensive temporal scope the body has applied to date.
The commission concluded that Israeli authorities and forces continued to commit genocidal acts with genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian population of Gaza, a finding that reaffirms and extends its earlier determination of September 2025, issued one month before the ceasefire entered into force.
Documented Violence During the Ceasefire
Despite the nominal halt in hostilities, Israeli forces were found to have continued deploying heavy munitions, drones, quadcopters, artillery, and sniper fire in densely populated areas of Gaza throughout the ceasefire period. Those attacks killed more than 1,431 people, including at least 300 children and 130 women, and left 5,026 others injured — figures the commission attributes to verified reporting rather than unilateral claims by any party.
The commission also identified a significant territorial dimension to the ongoing operations. The so-called “Yellow Line”, presented publicly as a temporary ceasefire demarcation, was found to be encroaching increasingly into Gazan territory and hardening into a de facto border, reflecting what the commission characterises as Israel’s expanding territorial control over the strip.
West Bank: Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes
Beyond Gaza, the commission concluded that Israeli forces had committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in the occupied West Bank, enumerating extermination, persecution, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence as specific findings. The commission described a sharp rise in Palestinian deaths in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, attributing the pattern to a combination of Israeli military operations and sustained settler violence forming part of a widespread and systematic attack against Palestinian civilians.
Commission Chair Srinivasan Muralidhar, addressing the UN General Assembly, stated that more than 75,000 Palestinians have been killed across the occupied Palestinian territory since October 7, 2023, among them at least 21,500 children and 11,000 women. The scale of child casualties in particular raises acute questions under international humanitarian law regarding the proportionality and distinction principles governing the conduct of hostilities.
Israel Rejects the Findings
Israel has forcefully rejected the commission’s conclusions. The Israeli mission in Geneva characterised the report as a “propaganda document” and accused the commission of participating in a misinformation campaign designed to delegitimise the State of Israel. Israeli authorities have consistently denied all allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide since the conflict began in October 2023.
The commission operates independently and does not represent the position of the United Nations as a whole, a distinction of institutional significance given that member states retain divergent legal and political assessments of the conflict. Its findings nonetheless carry weight under international human rights law as a formal record produced by a body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.