Escalating Crimes by the Israeli Occupation and Terrorist Settler Militias Require Urgent International Action to Halt the Aggression and Hold Israel Accountable
Date: 26 July 2026
Press Statement
Escalating Crimes by the Israeli Occupation and Terrorist Settler Militias Require Urgent International Action to Halt the Aggression and Hold Israel Accountable
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the dangerous escalation of crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces and terrorist settler militias against the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, alongside the continued genocide in the Gaza Strip. These actions constitute an official policy of the Israeli occupying power, amount to state terrorism, and represent grave violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, United Nations resolutions, and the provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice.
ICSPR affirms that the West Bank is witnessing an unprecedented escalation in both state terrorism and settler terrorism, with Israeli occupation forces and settler militias increasingly acting as a single entity in carrying out killings, assaults, and the forcible imposition of settlement realities on the ground. The attack on the town of Tell, south of Nablus, exemplifies this policy. Settlers stormed the town, set homes and property on fire, and assaulted residents while Israeli occupation forces provided them with protection and opened live fire on civilians, resulting in the killing of four Palestinians and the injury of others. This was followed by the imposition of a comprehensive siege on the town, official threats to expand military operations, and the legalization of new settlement outposts as part of Israel’s policy of annexation and settler colonialism.
ICSPR notes that settler attacks in recent days have included the burning of homes, vehicles, and agricultural lands in Awarta, Surra, Jit, Far’ata, and Ein Yabrud; assaults on civilians and ambulance crews; the destruction of water sources; the uprooting of olive trees; and the establishment of four new settlement outposts. The Palestine Information Center “Mu’ta” documented 1,570 violations during a single week, including the killing of 13 Palestinians, the injury of 45 others, the arrest of 242 civilians, 304 military raids, 91 demolitions, 129 settler attacks, and 374 violations affecting checkpoints and freedom of movement, underscoring the systematic escalation of organized terror and forced displacement. ICSPR also expresses grave concern over Save the Children’s announcement that more than 1,000 Palestinian children were displaced from the West Bank during the first half of 2026, while settler attacks increased by 45 percent compared to the same period last year.
ICSPR further affirms that Israel continues to perpetrate the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip through the systematic targeting of civilians and civilian objects. Human rights organizations documented the killing of 39 Palestinians, including nine children and five women, between 19 and 24 July 2026, while dozens of civilians were injured as a result of attacks on inhabited homes, shelters, displacement tents, civilian gatherings, civilian vehicles, and personnel responsible for securing humanitarian aid. Entire families were wiped out inside their homes, and areas surrounding hospitals were repeatedly targeted, confirming that civilians and civilian infrastructure have become direct targets of Israeli attacks in serious violation of international law.
ICSPR condemns the continued targeting of hospitals, medical personnel, and ambulances, including the recent strike on the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which spread panic among patients, medical staff, and journalists. It also condemns the repeated targeting of civilian institutions and their personnel, including the assassination of Brigadier General Abdul Nasser Mohammed Al-Maqadmeh, Director of Police in North Gaza Governorate; the death of Lieutenant Colonel Yamen Mohammed Obeid from wounds sustained in a previous attack; and the assassination of Colonel Wael Mousa Al-Ladawi, Director of the Internal Security Service in the Central Governorate, together with Major Ramez Tawfiq Abu Zureiq, after their vehicle was targeted in Deir al-Balah. These attacks reflect the expanding policy of targeting civilian administration and public service institutions.
ICSPR notes that the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the arrival of six martyrs and 37 injured persons during the past 48 hours, bringing the cumulative death toll since 7 October 2023 to 73,317 Palestinians killed and 173,961 injured. Since the ceasefire, 1,191 Palestinians have been killed and 3,853 injured, while the ongoing blockade and starvation continue unabated. The World Food Programme has also warned of reductions in humanitarian assistance due to funding shortages, further threatening to deepen the humanitarian catastrophe.
ICSPR welcomes the positions of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, who affirmed that the crimes committed against Palestinians are not the responsibility of isolated individuals but rather reflect official state policies. She called for a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel and the suspension of trade relations, emphasizing that such measures are obligations under international law. ICSPR stresses that these positions are fully consistent with the duty of all states to refrain from providing political, military, or economic support that contributes to the continuation of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
ICSPR holds the Israeli government fully responsible for the crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, settlement expansion, and forced displacement. It also holds accountable those states that continue to provide Israel with military, political, and economic support, as well as the United Nations Security Council and the broader international community, for allowing the policy of impunity to persist through their failure to enforce international law and implement international resolutions. This failure has emboldened Israel and settler militias to intensify their aggression and expand annexation and settler-colonial projects.
ICSPR emphasizes that the Palestinian people in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are being subjected to an integrated system of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and settler colonialism that threatens international peace and security and undermines the credibility of the international legal order. Continued international silence can no longer be viewed merely as inaction; it has become a factor encouraging the Israeli occupation authorities to continue committing crimes against Palestinian civilians.
Accordingly, the International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) calls upon the international community, the United Nations, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to take immediate action to end the aggression, provide international protection for the Palestinian people, impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, suspend all forms of military, political, and economic support to the occupying power, impose sanctions on the Israeli government and settler militias, accelerate proceedings before the International Criminal Court to hold all perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity accountable, compel Israel to comply with the orders of the International Court of Justice, end the occupation and settlement enterprise, lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip, ensure the full and safe flow of humanitarian assistance, and guarantee the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of their independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR)
