The UN rights office stated that Israel's actions since October 2023 amount to "gross violations" of international law, often constituting "war crimes and other atrocity crime". UN rights chief Volker Türk called on Israel to comply with a 2024 International Court of Justice order to prevent genocide and punish incitement to commit it. The report covers October 7, 2023—when Hamas's attack sparked the war, killing 1,221 Israelis—through May 2025. It also condemned "serious violations" by Palestinian armed groups, including hostage abuse involving torture and sexual captivity "in inhumane condition". However, the report focused heavily on Israel's military campaign, which has killed over 72,000 people in Gaza. It found that a large proportion of these killings "appear unlawfu", noting repeated attacks on civilians, journalists, medical facilities, and humanitarian workers. Living conditions in much of Gaza, it warned, have become "incompatible with Palestinians' continued existence as a group". In the West Bank, the report cited "unnecessary and disproportionate force" leading to hundreds of unlawful killings and forced displacement. It charged that the deliberate destruction of Gaza and refugee camps in the northern West Bank indicated Israel intends the displacement to be "permanent". Taken together, the UN described a pattern of "collective punishment" and "ethnic cleansing" across occupied Palestinian territories. It stressed the need for "credible and impartial" judicial accountability and preservation of all relevant evidence. (Bssnews)