U.N. rights report finds atrocity crimes by Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza

A U.N. human rights office report published Feb. 19 concluded that Israeli forces, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza and carried out atrocity crimes during the period studied. The 17-page report examined events from Nov. 1, 2024 to Oct. 31, 2025 and extended findings to abuses in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem.

The report flagged multiple patterns of abuse in Gaza, including allegations that civilians were used as human shields to prevent Israeli attacks, an accusation Hamas has denied. It said the holding and mistreatment of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack "may amount to war crimes and potentially other atrocity crimes," citing allegations of torture, beating and deprivation of food. Israeli tallies put the Oct. 7 attack at more than 1,200 people killed and over 250 hostages taken, and the Palestinian health ministry says Israel's military offensive since has killed more than 72,000 people.

On the humanitarian front the report described conditions that it said have become "increasingly incompatible with Palestinians' continued existence as a group in Gaza." Citing the report, one outlet noted that "during the 12 months covered in the report, at least 463 Palestinians, including 157 children, starved to death in Gaza." Another line in the report, quoted by the media, summed the choice for civilians starkly: "Palestinians faced the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risking being killed while trying to get food."

The rights office also raised concerns about forcible transfers and measures that "appear to aim at a permanent displacement," and warned these steps, together with other actions, "raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank." In the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem the report documented what it described as systematic use of unlawful force by Israeli security forces, widespread arbitrary detention and extensive unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes, arguing these practices were altering the character and demographic composition of the territory.

U.N. rights chief Volker Türk urged accountability, saying, "Impunity is not abstract, it kills. Accountability is indispensable. It is the prerequisite for a just and durable peace in Palestine and Israel." The report itself said, "There must also be accountability for serious violations of international law, including possible international crimes, by Hamas and its armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades as well as other Palestinian armed groups."

The U.N. findings exist alongside a separate U.N. commission of inquiry reported by the BBC that concluded there were reasonable grounds to say Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that some Israeli leaders had "incited the commission of genocide." The BBC noted the commission "does not officially speak for the UN." The commission also cited statements by Israeli leaders and a pattern of conduct as evidence; Pillay, speaking for the commission in BBC coverage, quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Oct. 7, 2023 vow of "mighty vengeance" and the pledge "we will turn them into rubble."

Israel's permanent mission in Geneva dismissed the rights office findings, saying the office had "lost its credibility" and accusing it of being "engaged in a vicious campaign of demonization and disinformation against the State of Israel." Hamas has not commented on the report in media accounts.

The report arrives after two years of war that U.S.-brokered ceasefire observers said eased in October 2025, leaving Gaza with widespread destruction, mass displacement and a humanitarian crisis. Beyond immediate legal and diplomatic fallout, the findings are likely to intensify international pressure for investigations and could shape long-term reconstruction, aid flows and regional political dynamics.