Gaza: UN experts today condemned the sharp escalation of attacks against Palestinian civilians across the occupied Palestinian territory in July, registering a sharp deterioration of an already catastrophic human rights situation.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, despite a ceasefire nominally in force since October 2025, Israeli forces have killed about 160 Palestinians in Gaza in July alone, bringing the death toll in the ravaged enclave since the so-called ceasefire to more than 1,200. This includes women, children, older persons, and others who had taken shelter in tents and areas to which they had been directed for their own safety. The experts highlighted that most killings occurred in densely populated displacement zones such as Al-Mawasi, far from the so-called yellow line, indicating that nowhere in Gaza is safe.
The experts reported with alarm that entire residential blocks receive evacuation orders just before fighter jets destroy them, deepening the already severe shelter crisis. They expressed concern over the continuous westward advancement of the so-called yellow line, the construction of a 23-kilometre barrier along it, and the systematic detonation of residential buildings, which are re-engineering the geography of illegally occupied Gaza through force and displacement.
The experts also condemned strikes on hospitals and shelters, the killing of police officers and UN-contracted staff, attacks on fishers, and abductions and abuses by armed groups reportedly collaborating with the Israeli military, as well as the killing of humanitarian workers. They warned that food aid is still not entering Gaza freely, while products brought in through commercial channels are ultra-processed and neither nutritionally nor culturally adequate.
They added that with farmland and clean water inaccessible and agricultural inputs blocked, Palestinians are unable to feed themselves. The experts noted that the burden is falling heaviest on children, older persons, and those with disabilities, and warned that food insecurity is fueling a rise in gender-based violence and child marriage, as well as endangering women in their daily searches for food.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the experts deplored the killing of at least 14 Palestinians in July, most of them in the final 10 days, as well as deaths resulting from movement restrictions, including the death of a four-month-old baby and a pregnant woman's miscarriage after ambulances were blocked at military gates. They emphasized that movement restrictions can become lethal instruments when they threaten the lives of infants, pregnant women, and their unborn children.
The experts expressed particular shock over the surge in settler terror, culminating on 24 July in Tell, southwest of Nablus, where four Palestinian men from one family were shot and killed during clashes involving armed settlers and soldiers. In the days that followed, some 80 Tell residents were detained, and more than 20 pogroms were recorded across the West Bank in a single weekend, with mosques, homes, and rural farms burned, water infrastructure destroyed, and entire communities forcibly displaced.
The experts recalled the International Court of Justice's Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, which found Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and called for it to be ended as rapidly as possible. The Court also found Israel's settlement policy to be in violation of international law. They stressed that states aiding or assisting Israel in maintaining this unlawful situation are themselves in breach of international law, striking at the heart of the multilateral legal order.
The experts called for immediate compliance with the ICJ Advisory Opinion and provisional measures orders, including the cessation of attacks against civilians, respect for the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, accountability, and concrete steps by third States to ensure respect for international humanitarian and human rights law.