GENEVA, June 15, 2026 (WAFA) – The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel stated on Monday that attacks by armed Israeli colonist militias against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank are part of a systematic policy aimed at forcibly displacing the Palestinian people from their lands.
The Commission emphasized that these state-backed attacks pave the way for illegal colonial expansion and the imposition of unlawful annexation, carried out under the direct protection and arming of the Israeli occupation forces.
This came in a comprehensive report addressing attacks by armed militias on Palestinian civilians, including colonist groups, under the protection of Israeli forces. The report was released on the sidelines of the 62nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The report clarified that the Israeli occupation forces provide systematic cover, weapons, and protection to colonist militias while they commit gross violations against Palestinian civilians.
These actions include the killing of civilians, the torching of homes and agricultural lands, and the widespread destruction of civilian property, which the Commission described as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
The Commission called upon all UN member states to fulfil their international legal responsibilities, including full compliance with the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion.
It urged nations to cease all forms of interaction with illegal Israeli colonization and to implement effective measures, including sanctions, to ensure no support is provided to these illegal activities.
Furthermore, the report stressed the illegality of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, asserting the absolute necessity of a complete evacuation of all colonization, ensuring accountability for committed violations, and safeguarding the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
In his address to the session, Ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi, the Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations in Geneva, strongly condemned Israel's systematic attempts to undermine the mechanisms of the UN and international organizations working to achieve justice and uphold international law.
Khraishi reviewed the continuous chain of violations perpetrated by the occupation authorities and colonizer militias since 1948 and 1967, including the destruction of towns, burning of lands, and demolition of protected civilian structures—tactics that remain ongoing today.
He warned that approximately 80 percent of the West Bank land has been brought under Israeli control, as the occupation power aggressively pursues colonial expansion and the terrorization of civilians to force displacement and achieve full annexation.
The Palestinian diplomat further pointed to the occupation government’s criminal decision to arm thousands of colonists and shield them during their violent incursions into Palestinian cities and villages, warning of the extreme gravity of this policy and demanding an end to impunity.
Concluding his remarks, Khraishi commended the recent measures taken by several nations against violent colonists. He urged the international community to escalate efforts to halt all dealings with colonisation, work toward their complete dismantlement, support the two-state solution, and guarantee the protection of Palestinian refugee rights in accordance with international law.
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