UN Report Declares Systemic Discrimination in West Bank The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a thematic report on 7 January 2026. It concluded that Israeli laws, policies and practices in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem constitute systemic discrimination against Palestinians. The report notes that conditions have “drastically deteriorated” since at least December 2022 and accelerated after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, framing the situation as structural rather than isolated incidents[1][2].

High Commissioner Uses Apartheid Terminology for First Time Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner, explicitly described the patterns as resembling an apartheid system, marking the first time a UN rights chief used that terminology for Israel[1][2]. He warned that the “asphyxiating impact” on daily life reflects a severe form of racial segregation intended to be permanent. The statement links everyday restrictions on movement, services and livelihoods to a broader legal framework[1].

Report Details Restrictions on Palestinian Daily Life The report enumerates controls over water, education, hospitals, family visits and olive‑harvesting, arguing that “every aspect of life” is regulated by Israeli authority[2]. It cites roughly 160 settlements housing about 700,000 Israeli settlers alongside an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians in the same territory[1]. Recent approval of 19 new settlements in the month before the report underscores the acceleration of settlement expansion[1].

Investigation and Impunity Figures Highlight Legal Gap From 2017 through 30 September 2025, Israeli authorities recorded more than 1,500 Palestinian killings, yet opened only 112 investigations and secured a single conviction[2]. An AFP tally based on Palestinian Health Ministry data shows over 1,000 Palestinians, including civilians, have been killed in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, while at least 44 Israelis have died in the same period[2]. The UN office characterizes this near‑total impunity as part of an unprecedented deterioration in human‑rights protection[2].

Israel Rejects Findings, Calls Report Politically Motivated Israel’s Geneva mission dismissed the report as “absurd and distorted,” accusing the UN office of ignoring fundamental security facts such as the October 2023 Hamas attacks[1]. The mission labeled the study an “unmandated” effort aimed at vilifying Israel and rejected calls to dismantle settlements[1]. The Israeli response frames the findings as politically motivated, setting the stage for intensified diplomatic debate[2].