Overview
- The UN Independent International Commission released the report on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, saying Palestinian civilians face systematic rights violations from Israeli settlers and forces on one side and brutal Hamas repression in Gaza on the other.
- The commission found Israeli authorities have enabled settler violence through financial and security support and that Israeli security forces at times accompanied or shielded settlers during attacks, a pattern it links to efforts to entrench settlements.
- Investigators documented a sharp rise in West Bank settler attacks including assaults, abductions and sexual threats, reporting a 130% increase in killings and injuries in 2025 compared with 2024 and near-daily incidents continuing into 2026.
- The report cataloged 249 cases of extrajudicial punishment in Gaza from 2024–2025 with at least 108 deaths and 384 injured, and said Hamas-affiliated militants and police units were involved in about 60 of those incidents that amount to murder, torture and other war crimes.
- The commission urged Israel to end the occupation, halt settlement expansion and ensure accountability while also calling on Gaza’s de facto authorities to stop extrajudicial punishments, a set of recommendations that Israel has publicly rejected and that will heighten diplomatic and legal tensions at the upcoming Human Rights Council session.