UN report accuses Israel of aiding settler violence, while Israel rejects the claims

A new United Nations report says Israeli authorities enabled and even assisted settlers in carrying out severe and persistent violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The report, produced by a UN commission of inquiry that previously determined Israel had “committed genocide in Gaza,” also reviewed human rights violations by both Israel and Hamas in the same document. Israel strongly rejected the findings.

According to the report, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages and agricultural land have surged since 2023, rising by 130% in 2025. At least 7 Palestinians were killed and 832 were injured last year because of settler violence, and the violence continued into 2026 in the form of nearly daily attacks, according to the published findings.

The Israeli mission in Geneva rejected the report’s conclusions, accusing the commission of creating a “false moral equivalence” between Hamas operatives and Israeli civilians, and of relying on “unsubstantiated claims.” Israel stressed that Israeli authorities, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, have consistently condemned violence against Palestinians.

The report also said Israeli security forces often accompanied settlers and served as a shield for the violence. In many videos published over the past two years, IDF forces can be seen witnessing acts of violence by extremist settlers and doing nothing, and at times even taking part in them. The authorities’ support for settler violence also came in the form of financial backing and a lack of enforcement and punishment. “The increasing involvement of Israeli security forces in settler attacks represents a de facto collapse of the distinction between settlers and soldiers,” the report said.

The commission also described particularly shocking cases of violence and sexual abuse against Palestinians. In one case, it was alleged that two 15-year-old Palestinian boys were abducted, abused, stripped, and urinated on. In another case, settlers threatened a Palestinian family with rape, stripped the man, and sexually abused him in public. In a third case, a 12-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother were abducted at knifepoint, dragged to an olive grove, and tied to a tree with plastic zip ties. In a fourth case, a Palestinian man was raped with a wooden stick inserted into his rectum.

The second half of the report also reviewed human rights violations in Gaza by Hamas, prompting criticism in Israel over the comparison between settler violence and the actions of the terror organization. According to the report, Hamas-linked forces were involved in at least 60 documented cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024 and 2025.

The atrocities committed by Hamas included beatings with metal rods and broken bones as punishment for suspected collaboration with Israel. Eleven men were publicly executed in September and October 2025 on suspicion of collaboration. The commission said these actions constitute war crimes and violations of international law.

The commission also found that Hamas used sexual violence to suppress criticism of its rule or cooperation with Israel. In at least 20 cases, Hamas documented and published the abuse, in order to humiliate the victims and deter the Gaza public.