GENEVA: Israeli forces committed serious violations of ​international humanitarian law in Gaza and carried out atrocity crimes, a UN report published on Thursday said.
Intensified Israeli attacks and the forcible transfer of Palestinians appeared aimed at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza “raising concerns over ethnic cleansing,” the report by the UN human rights office said.
The holding and mistreatment of hostages by the Hamas Islamist militant group may amount to war crimes, it said.
Israel’s permanent mission in Geneva dismissed the report’s findings about Israel’s actions, and said in a statement that the UN human rights office had lost its credibility.
“Office of the High Commissioner is ‌engaged in a ‌vicious campaign of demonization and disinformation against the State of Israel,” it ​said.
Hamas ‌did ⁠not immediately ​respond ⁠to requests for comment.
ETHNIC CLEANSING CONCERNS
The 17-page report investigated events in Gaza from November 2024 to October 31, 2025.
It found that Israel’s actions had imposed “conditions of life increasingly incompatible with Palestinians’ ‌continued existence as a group in Gaza,” the report said.
Famine ‌found in some parts of Gaza last August by a ​global hunger monitor and malnutrition resulted directly from ‌Israel’s actions, the report said.
Militarised distribution centers run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) backed by Israel ‌and the United States “failed utterly” to deliver humanitarian aid at the scale required, violating Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law, it said.
Israeli practices in Gaza and the occupied West Bank indicated an accelerating effort to consolidate the annexation of large parts of occupied Palestinian territory, with unlawful use of force by Israeli security forces, the report said.
“During ‌the reporting period, intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic ⁠shift in Gaza,” it ⁠said.
“This, together with forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement, raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank.”