UN Warns Israeli Actions in Gaza Amount to Ethnic Cleansing
The report, which spans November 1, 2024, through October 31, 2025, found that "intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza."
Investigators documented record civilian casualties, widespread famine, and the near-total collapse of Gaza's remaining infrastructure — conditions the report described as creating "conditions of life increasingly incompatible" with Palestinians' continued presence in the territory. At least 463 Palestinians perished from starvation, among them 157 children, with the UN attributing those deaths directly to restrictions placed on humanitarian aid deliveries.
The report further flagged the possibility that Israeli forces deliberately targeted civilians or carried out strikes causing disproportionate harm — conduct that could qualify as war crimes under international law.
Across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, UN investigators described "systematic" unlawful use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and mass demolition of Palestinian homes — a pattern of policies said to "systematically discriminate, oppress, control and dominate" Palestinians. Seventy-nine Palestinians died in Israeli detention over the reporting period, with those held from Gaza found to be especially vulnerable to torture and other abuse.
The report also noted that Hamas and allied armed factions continued holding Israeli and foreign hostages seized during the October 7, 2023 attacks, with accounts from survivors describing torture and mistreatment during captivity.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned what he called a "pervasive climate of impunity" and pressed member states to immediately suspend arms transfers that could enable further violations, warning that accountability cannot be deferred.
"Justice for victims must lay the foundation for the reconstruction of Gaza," the report stated, urging governments to guarantee Palestinians' direct participation in any governance structures overseeing Gaza's rebuilding.
Turk was unequivocal in his warning, stressing that "impunity kills" and that accountability is "indispensable." He added: "It is the prerequisite for a just and durable peace in Palestine and Israel."
A US-brokered ceasefire, in effect since October 10, formally ended two years of warfare in Gaza — a conflict that has killed more than 72,000 people, the majority of them women and children, and left over 171,000 wounded since hostilities began in October 2023.
Despite the truce, Israeli forces have committed hundreds of documented violations through shelling and live fire. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, those breaches have killed 603 Palestinians and injured an additional 1,618 since the ceasefire took hold.
Military operations in the West Bank have also intensified in parallel with the Gaza war, claiming the lives of at least 1,112 Palestinians and wounding approximately 11,500 others over the same timeframe.
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