West Bank Violence: UN Commission Reports Surge in Airstrike Deaths

The United Nations Commission of Inquiry released a detailed report on Monday that places 254 Palestinian deaths in the West Bank directly under Israeli airstrikes between October 7, 2023, and September 30, 2026. The document, issued by a panel chaired by Indian jurist Srinivasan Muralidhar, contrasts this figure with the six deaths recorded by the same body between 2008 and October 6, 2023. Muralidhar described the pattern of killing and home destruction in the report as part of a strategy to impose unliveable conditions on Palestinians.

The panel attributed the sharp rise in fatalities to the launch of Operation Iron Wall in January 2025. According to the findings, airstrikes became more frequent in refugee camps and areas surrounding Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas, and Nablus. The commission characterized the operation as a shift toward widespread destruction of housing and the clearing of camps. It noted that the Israel Defense Forces stated the goal was to restore operational freedom of action, while describing reconstruction efforts as a danger to Israeli citizens and military forces.

Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry reacted to the release with a statement calling the document a propaganda tool detached from reality. The ministry said the report aimed to undermine Israel’s right to self-defense and legitimize jihadist terrorism. While the report accuses Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, it also lists specific wrongdoings by the Palestinian Authority. The panel claimed the PA pushed for arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture, while specifically targeting journalists, activists, and human rights defenders. Hamas was mentioned twice in the text, but neither instance accused the group of committing a crime.

The commission verified four additional cases of sexual violence against Palestinian detainees since March 2025. Two of the victims were from the West Bank. One case involved a male detainee at Megiddo Prison in 2025 who was allegedly blindfolded, forced to remove his lower garments, and repeatedly raped with objects during interrogation. Guards reportedly mocked the detainee and threatened his family, while he suffered rectal bleeding without receiving medical treatment. The panel concluded these acts were not isolated incidents but part of a broader attack against the civilian population.

Israeli officials’ public statements formed part of the commission’s analysis of military intent. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is cited for referring to two million Nazis in the West Bank in November 2023 and for calling in January 2025 for Fondouk, Nablus, and Jenin to look like Jabalia. Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth, chief of the IDF Central Command, is cited for a May 2026 remark that soldiers were killing like they had not since 1967. The report also highlights the PA’s handling of the December 2024 killing of a journalism student in Jenin refugee camp, who was shot in the neck near her home. The PA spokesman blamed outlaws for the death, though the commission found key witnesses had not been asked to testify.

The panel reported that nearly 500 Palestinians are killed annually in the West Bank since 2022. These figures represent the highest numbers recorded by the UN since it began collecting data on the topic in 2005. The commission found that the Palestinian Authority violated the right to life and the right to security of person. It noted that the PA failed to conduct prompt, effective, and impartial investigations into killings or to provide effective remedies to victims and their families.

The report was released on the same day the Foreign Ministry issued its critique. The commission’s findings on airstrikes and sexual violence stand as the central data points in the document. The next step in the process will involve further legal reviews of the verified cases cited by the panel.