Zürcher Nachrichten - UN says Israeli actions raise 'ethnic cleansing' fears in West Bank, Gaza

The cumulative impact of Israel's military conduct during the war in Gaza and blockade of the territory, has inflicted living conditions "increasingly incompatible with Palestinians' continued existence as a group in Gaza", said the UN human rights office.

"Intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza," the office said in a report.

"This, together with forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement, raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank."

The report covered November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025. It highlighted the Israeli security forces' "systematic use of unlawful force" in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem.

The report also pointed to "widespread" arbitrary detention and the "extensive unlawful demolition" of Palestinian homes. The aim, it said, was to "systematically discriminate, oppress, control and dominate the Palestinian people".

These actions are altering "the character, status and demographic composition of the occupied West Bank, raising serious concerns of ethnic cleansing", it added.

- 'Inhumane choice' -

In Gaza, the report condemned the continued killing and maiming of "unprecedented numbers of civilians", the spread of famine, and destruction of the "remaining civilian infrastructure".

During the 12 months covered in the report, at least 463 Palestinians, including 157 children, had starved to death in Gaza, it said.

"Palestinians faced the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risking being killed while trying to get food," it added.

The famine, the malnutrition and the "foreseeable and repeatedly foretold" deaths directly resulted from actions taken by the Israeli government, said the report.

Any use of starvation of civilians as a method of war constitutes a war crime, it said -- and depending on the intent, it could also constitute genocide.

During the period covered by the report, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continued to hold Israeli and foreign hostages seized during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel -- dead or alive -- as "bargaining tools".

The rights office said the treatment of the hostages amounted to war crimes.

"Israeli forces, Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups committed serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, gross violations and abuses of international human rights law, and atrocity crimes," the report concluded.

- Impunity 'kills' -

On Tuesday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed to encourage "emigration" from the Palestinian territories.

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state, but many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

Thursday's rights office report concluded that Israeli practices "indicated a concerted and accelerating effort to consolidate annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to deny Palestinians' right to self-determination".

It said there was a pervasive climate of impunity for serious violations of international law by the Israeli authorities in the Palestinian territories.

"Impunity is not abstract -- it kills," said UN rights chief Volker Turk in a statement. "Accountability is indispensable. It is the prerequisite for a just and durable peace in Palestine and Israel."

In a statement, Israel's mission in Geneva did not directly address the report's central claim.

But it said the UN rights office was "engaged in a vicious campaign of demonisation and disinformation" against Israel and accused it of "enthusiastic promotion of incitement, distortion, and misinformation".

If Turk "was concerned with accountability", it said, "he would address the responsibilities and obligations of the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian armed groups for the human rights of Palestinians, and their violations vis-a-vis Palestinians and Israelis alike."

N.Fischer--NZN