UN report confirms Israeli forces shielded settlers as attacks on Palestinians surged

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said Israeli authorities had enabled settler attacks through financial and military support.

It said Israeli security forces had protected settlers during attacks on Palestinian communities, contributing to what the commission described as a climate of impunity.

The report, released on Tuesday, said settler attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural land had risen by 130% since 2023. It linked the violence to Israeli state policy, including settlement expansion, annexation of Palestinian land and the displacement of Palestinians from their homes.

In one of its strongest findings, the commission said the growing role of Israeli security forces in settler attacks amounted to “a de facto collapse of the distinction between settlers and soldiers”.

Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair and a former Indian judge, said violence by settlers was the direct outcome of Israeli policies that support, enable and protect their actions.

The commission found that at least 26 Palestinians were killed and at least 1,570 injured by settlers between January 2023 and December 2025. It said attacks were continuing on a daily basis in 2026.

The report cited cases of assaults, abductions and abuse of Palestinian children by settlers. In one April 2025 case, it said two young children were abducted at knifepoint before relatives intervened.

The commission said settler violence in the occupied West Bank was being used to advance Israeli policy, including the unlawful occupation, the annexation of Palestinian territory and the removal of Palestinians from their land.

Muralidhar urged the international community to press Israel to dismantle settlements and outposts and stop the violence. The commission also called for an end to the occupation and a halt to new settlement activity.

Israel rejects accusations that its forces shield settlers during attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, saying such cases are rogue incidents that breach military protocol and are investigated. Israeli and Palestinian rights groups say such investigations rarely lead to punishment.

Israel has also long accused the UN commission of systematic anti Israel bias. The Israeli prime minister’s office and military did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the latest report.

Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law. Israel disputes this, citing historical and religious links to the territory.

The report also accused Hamas affiliated forces in Gaza of serious abuses against Palestinian civilians, including executions, torture and severe physical violence.

The commission found that Hamas affiliated forces were involved in at least 60 of 249 documented cases of executions and severe physical violence in 2024 and 2025. It said some of those acts amounted to war crimes and violations of international law.

The commission also said Hamas and other armed groups committed war crimes during the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, including hostage taking and attacks on civilians.

Hamas did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on the report.

The commission said ordinary Palestinians in Gaza were caught between the destruction caused by Israel’s military campaign and the coercive rule of Hamas affiliated forces inside the territory.

Muralidhar said Hamas affiliated forces had exploited the vacuum created by Israeli attacks and widespread destruction in Gaza. He said the common element across the findings was the deliberate infliction of suffering on Palestinian civilians.

The report is due to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next Monday.

Its release came as the UK, France, Canada and Norway announced new sanctions targeting networks accused of financing and enabling settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Australia and New Zealand announced related measures last week.

France also banned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering its territory, along with four settler organisation leaders and 21 violent settlers.

The UK Foreign Office said British businesses were now being explicitly advised against economic and financial activity in illegal Israeli settlements.