“Ending the occupation alone will not be sufficient,” according to the report released on Tuesday, urging that additional action be taken to ensure the equal enjoyment of human rights for Palestinians.
The report cites evidence that Israel has “no intention of ending the occupation”.
Israel is pursuing “complete control” over what the report calls the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which was taken by Israel in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.
The Israeli government, the commission said, has been “acting to alter the demography through the maintenance of a repressive environment for Palestinians and a favourable environment for Israeli settlers”.
Citing an Israeli law denying naturalisation to Palestinians married to Israeli citizens, the report accuses Israel of affording “different civil status, rights and legal protection” for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in settlements and outposts across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is home to more than three million Palestinians. The Israeli settlements are fortified, Jewish-only housing complexes that are considered illegal under international law.
Leading human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have equated Israeli policies against Palestinians to apartheid.
The UN inquiry and report was prompted by the 11-day Israeli military offensive in May 2021 during which more than 260 Palestinians in Gaza were killed, and 13 people died in Israel.
In May 2021, Hamas fired rockets towards Israel after Israeli forces cracked down on Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – Islam’s third holiest site – where dozens were injured and detained. It also followed an Israeli court decision to forcibly expel Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.
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