Palestinians 'trapped' between Israeli forces, settlers, Hamas, UN

Palestinian civilians are caught in a devastating squeeze between Israeli forces, settlers, and Hamas, facing "mass atrocities" and severe rights violations, according to a new report by the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry. The commission, which previously concluded that Israel had committed "genocide" in the Gaza war, highlighted systematic and deliberate abuses against civilians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“

Ordinary Palestinians find themselves trapped between the structural violence and mass atrocities of Israeli forces and the predatory, fear-based rule of Hamas.

In the Gaza Strip, the report states that ordinary Palestinians are trapped between the "structural violence and mass atrocities of Israeli forces and the predatory, fear-based rule of Hamas." The situation in the West Bank, which has seen a surge in violence since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, is described as Palestinians increasingly being targeted by Israeli settler attacks. The commission asserts that settler violence is a "direct outcome of Israeli policies that support, enable and protect their actions."

“

Violence by settlers is the direct outcome of Israeli policies that support, enable and protect their actions.

Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the commission, noted a disturbing similarity in the "deliberate infliction of suffering on Palestinian civilians" by both Israeli forces and Hamas, despite their differing origins and motivations. He stated that both operate within environments engineered by Israel. The commission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021, focused heavily on the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967.

“

What is alarmingly similar is the deliberate infliction of suffering on Palestinian civilians. While their origins and motivations differ, both operate within environments engineered by Israel.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, at least 1,080 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank since October 2023. Official Israeli figures indicate at least 46 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period. The inquiry found that settlers killed at least 26 Palestinians and injured at least 1,570 between January 2023 and December 2025, a trend that continues daily in 2026. The report concludes that Israel is responsible for enabling settler violence, characterizing it as a means of implementing Israeli state policy.

“

Settler violence functions as a means of implementing Israeli state policy.