UN inquiry on Israeli violence hampered by funding shortfall, document shows

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Israeli soldiers sit on top of tanks at the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

GENEVA - A team of U.N. investigators tasked with researching cases of violence by Israeli settlers and the transfer of arms to Israel for use in the Gaza war cannot complete their work because of financial constraints, a document showed.

The incident shows how dire funding shortages in the U.N. system, caused by donor fatigue and belt-tightening, are harming global accountability efforts for abuses after a Congo probe was stalled earlier this year.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory - established in May 2021 by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council - can provide evidence of international crimes used in pre-trial investigations by tribunals like the International Criminal Court.

Last year the council approved a request from Pakistan to research additional evidence on arms transfers to Israel in the context of the Gaza war and Israeli settler violence.

But Navi Pillay who heads the inquiry told the councils president in an August 6 letter that a lack of funds meant it was unable to hire staff.

The Commission has started informing the sponsors of the two resolutions that it will be unable to produce these mandated reports and present them to the Council in March 2026, said Pillay, who has served as a judge at the ICC and is a former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Israel has regularly criticised the commission, which has condemned actions by the Israeli military since it