UN: Palestine: Killings, destruction and settler encroachment continues [View all]

[Celerity]

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has reduced the scale of violence in the Gaza Strip but killings and destruction continue, while forced displacement in the occupied West Bank has reached a rate “unseen in decades”, a senior official with the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Monday in Geneva.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/05/1167538



Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), launched its latest report which covers the period between 7 October 2023 and 31 May 2025 following Hamas-led attacks on Israel and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza. It documents large-scale violations of international law, including atrocity crimes, and points to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity committed by Israeli and Palestinian parties.

Lasting consequences

“One year later, despite the ceasefire concluded in October 2025, the lasting consequences of the patterns we documented are apparent,” said Mr. Sunghay. “The ceasefire diminished the immense scale of violence up that point and opened some modest humanitarian space. But killings and the destruction of infrastructure have continued on an almost daily basis, and the overall humanitarian situation remains dire. All while Hamas continues its own violations, including against the people of Gaza.”

Deadly attacks, devastating violence

The reporting period saw unprecedented levels of killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, the tightening and escalation of Israeli control over Palestinians and their land, and “concerning conduct” by Palestinian authorities and armed groups such as indiscriminate rocket fire against Israel and the taking of hostages. Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity when they attacked civilians in Israel on and after 7 October 2023, killed at least 1,124 people, seized hostages and fired thousands of unguided missiles into Israeli territory for over a year.

“Released hostages have provided credible accounts of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence,” said Mr. Sunghay. Meanwhile, “Israel unleashed devastating violence and dispossession in Gaza and the West Bank, committing war crimes and possible crimes against humanity,” he said. He noted that the report found that the totality of Israeli conduct in Gaza raises serious concern about the country’s compliance with its obligation to prevent acts within the scope of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Blockade, starvation and displacement....

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