This week’s elections in Israel have dominated the news from that region with Benjamin Netanyahu, although getting the most seats, not enough for him to form a government. Also in the news, but getting much less coverage in the media was the report to the United Nations that,
“Israel has committed war crimes and the crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory intentionally targeting Palestinian civilians as it continues to commit genocide in Gaza”
The independent report also found that since the horrendous attacks on 7 October 2023 , that the situation in The West Bank has ” deteriorated gravely”.
The number of deaths caused by airstrikes in the West Bank has increased significantly: six Palestinians were killed by airstrikes in the West Bank between 2008 and 6 October 2023, while 254 Palestinians were killed by airstrikes between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2026. The Commission concluded that Palestinians in the West Bank are being targeted on the basis of their nationality, race and ethnicity, gender and age.
Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry said:
“The intentional killing and injuring of Palestinian civilians and destruction of homes in the West Bank combined with Israel’s persistent denial of responsibility form part of a broader strategy to exterminate and displace Palestinians and impose conditions of life that are unliveable.
“Meanwhile, Israel’s expansion of territorial control in Gaza continues to result in the killing and harming of Palestinian civilians who approach or cross the Yellow Line.”
The result of the election in Israel for the 120 seats in the Knesset:
- Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies – 53 seats
- Eisenkot’s Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties – 48 seats
- Arab led parties – 19 seats
99% of the ballots have been counted, but now underway, as this is being written, are 480,000 absentee ballots.
You might think that because an election was held that Israel is a Democracy. Think again – for millions who live there are not permitted to vote. Israel has a political system where some people have more rights than others – indeed some have very few at all. If you think that this is similar to the Apartheid system that once existed in South Africa – you would be right.
- 7.3 million Israeli citizens can vote.
- 750,000 illegal settlers in The West Bank can vote
- 1.2 million Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel can vote
- 3 million adult Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem do not have the vote
Most Palestinians who live in Occupied East Jerusalem have residency permits – they can vote for Jerusalem’s City Council – but they are not citizens of Israel and have no vote for the Knesset.
The election did show that Netanyahu is still popular with many Israelis despite: corruption charges looming in Israel, an international warrant out for him as a war criminal, and being responsible for leaving the borders of Israel so insecure that the atrocities of October 7 2023 were enabled and left 1,200 Israelis killed, and out of 252 hostages, only 168 survived.
The independent report for the United Nations looked beyond the torture, war crimes, rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by Israel on Palestinians, to try to understand where this sustained and horrific campaign of genocide was coming from.
It concludesd that Israel has striven to expand territorially and displace Palestinians through violence since the 1947-48 war. Military operations since January 2025 have led to the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967, with 34,176 Palestinians remaining displaced as of August 2026.
“Seizing maximum land while minimizing the Palestinian population in relation to size, autonomy and viability stems from Israel’s colonising policies and is rooted in historical practices and patterns of action, resulting in the excessive and discriminatory application of lethal force, displacing, injuring and killing Palestinians over generations,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar.
“Attempting to equate Palestinian statehood with a threat to the existence of Israel is blocking any viable attempts to realize Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”
Click on this link to read the full report.
Today, Saturday 31 October, islanders in Orkney will stand in Vigil on the Kirk Green, outside St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall between 1 and 2pm to remember all those killed on and since October 7 2023. Their call is for a permanent ceasefire – Peace and Justice.
At every vigil The Orkney News records the event which is unprecedented in the history of activism in the islands. Here is the latest:
Background to the UN Report : The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel was established by the UN Human Rights Council on 27 May 2021 to “investigate, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021.” Resolution A/HRC/RES/S-30/1 further requested the commission of inquiry to “investigate all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”
Images by Mike Robertson.
Fiona Grahame