{"id":315354,"date":"2026-02-16T13:27:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T18:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&#038;p=315354"},"modified":"2026-04-08T09:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:58:11","slug":"human-rights-situation-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-including-east-jerusalem-and-the-obligation-to-ensure-accountability-and-justice-a-hrc-61-26","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/human-rights-situation-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-including-east-jerusalem-and-the-obligation-to-ensure-accountability-and-justice-a-hrc-61-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice (A\/HRC\/61\/26) &#8211; Advance unedited version"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><\/h3>\n<p>16 February 2026<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\">Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian<br \/>\nTerritory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice<\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><em>Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/em><\/h2>\n<h3>Summary<\/h3>\n<p>The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 58\/2. It provides an overview of the implementation of the resolution and developments relevant to the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, covering the period from 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>IV. Conclusions and recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>54. Israeli forces, Hamas, and other Palestinian armed groups have continued to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, gross violations and abuses of international human rights law, and atrocity crimes.<\/li>\n<li>55. The human-made humanitarian catastrophe further deepened, which included the spread of famine, starvation and malnutrition, and the critical lack of healthcare and other basic necessities across Gaza.<\/li>\n<li>56. The cumulative impact of Israel forces\u2019 conduct of hostilities in Gaza since 7 October and its long-standing blockade of Gaza has been the infliction of conditions of life increasingly incompatible with Palestinians\u2019 continued existence as a group in Gaza [132]. This conduct has occurred through recurrent violations of international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law. These violations also encompassed the commission of crimes under international law, and appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza raising concerns over ethnic cleansing [133]. Israel has a legal obligation to take the steps ordered by the International Court of Justice, to prevent acts of genocide, to prevent and punish the incitement to commit genocide, and to ensure enough aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza. All States are also obligated under international law to take action to prevent and punish genocide.<\/li>\n<li>57. There remains a pervasive climate of impunity in relation to gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, some constituting war crimes and possibly other international crimes. No meaningful steps were taken by Israel\u2019s justice system in relation to accountability for violations committed by Israel\u2019s officials and\/or settlers. Further, the manner in which hostilities were conducted by Israeli forces in Gaza has been emblematic of what comes with pervasive impunity. There must also be accountability for serious violations of international law, including possible international crimes, by Hamas and its armed wing, Al Qassam Brigades as well as other Palestinian armed groups.<\/li>\n<li>58. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the systematic unlawful use of force by Israeli security forces, including lethal force; the widespread arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Palestinians in detention; and the extensive unlawful demolition of Palestinian homes, is undertaken with impunity and used to systematically discriminate, oppress, control and dominate the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,[134] amounting to a violation of Article 3 of the ICERD, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. [135] These violations, together with pervasive and growing settler violence committed with impunity, [136] are fundamental to the coercive environment that induces forced displacement and forcible transfer, [137] which is a war crime, [138] altering the character, status and demographic composition of the occupied West Bank, raising serious concerns of ethnic cleansing.<\/li>\n<li>59. Considered together, Israeli practices across Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, indicated a concerted and accelerating effort to consolidate annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to deny Palestinians\u2019 right to self-determination.<br \/>\n60. In line with the International Court of Justice\u2019s ruling, Israel must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible.<\/li>\n<li>61. Efforts to reach lasting peace, including the implementation of the \u201cComprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,\u201d [139] need to include steps to ensure accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all duty bearers. Justice for victims must lay the foundation for the reconstruction of Gaza. Duty bearers must ensure Palestinians\u2019 immediate participation in governance structures to determine and shape the reconstruction of Gaza and to ensure that two states can exist side-by-side in a human rights-compliant manner. Palestinians\u2019 right to self-determination must not be delayed and made contingent on vague and indeterminate conditions.<\/li>\n<li>62. The High Commissioner urges meaningful action on his previous calls 140 upon Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and, as applicable, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, including to prevent, repress and punish all violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law.<\/li>\n<li>63. The High Commissioner reiterates his calls upon States to pursue accountability through the exercise universal jurisdiction to try crimes under international law in national courts, consistent with international standards, and through cooperation with the International Criminal Court further to the Rome Statute, and to encourage Israel to cooperate in good faith with the United Nations, including OHCHR, in line with the International Court of Justice\u2019s ruling of 22 October 2025.<\/li>\n<li>64. He also calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel facilitating violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>132 https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2025\/05\/turk-israeli-plans-expand-gaza-offensive-aggravateconcerns-regarding; https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2025\/04\/turk-calls-world-prevent-totalhumanitarian-catastrophe-gaza.<\/p>\n<p>133 https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/statements-and-speeches\/2025\/09\/hc-turk-updates-human-rights-councilwe-need-safeguard-eighty-years.<\/p>\n<p>134 A\/80\/399, para.38; A\/HRC\/58\/73, paras.10, 40.<\/p>\n<p>135 See https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/documents\/thematic-reports\/israels-discriminatory-administrationoccupied-west-bank-including-east.<\/p>\n<p>136 A\/80\/399, paras.38-46.<\/p>\n<p>137 I.C.J., Legal Consequences, para.154. See also https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/occupied-palestinianterritory\/un-human-rights-office-opt-mass-displacement-palestinians-northern-west-bank-sourcegrowing-concern-enar; A\/80\/399; and A\/HRC\/58\/73.<\/p>\n<p>138 Rome Statute, art.8(2)(b)(viii).<\/p>\n<p>139 Subsequently endorsed by the United Nations Security in its resolution 2803 (2025).<\/p>\n<p>140 A\/HRC\/58\/28, paras.66-68.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>16 February 2026 Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Summary The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 58\/2. It provides an overview of the implementation of the resolution <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/human-rights-situation-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-including-east-jerusalem-and-the-obligation-to-ensure-accountability-and-justice-a-hrc-61-26\/\"> [&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1323],"document-source":[1825],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[6966,1829,6837,6996,6790,1741,6885,1857,2021,6879,2185],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-315354","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-report","document-source-office-of-the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-ohchr","document-subject-atrocities","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-ethnic-cleansing","document-subject-famine","document-subject-genocide","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-human-rights-violations","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-incursions","document-subject-israeli-settlements","document-subject-legal-issues","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/315354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/315354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315360,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/315354\/revisions\/315360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=315354"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=315354"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=315354"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=315354"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=315354"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=315354"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=315354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}