Palestinians still unsafe 6 months after Gaza truce: UN rights chief

Six months after a ceasefire took effect in Gaza, Palestinians across the territory remain unsafe as Israeli attacks continue on a near-daily basis, the United Nations’ top human rights official said on Friday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said at least 738 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, 2025, including 32 deaths recorded since early April, according to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

“The unrelenting pattern of killings reflects continuing disregard for Palestinian lives, enabled by sweeping impunity,” Turk said in a statement.

He noted a persistent pattern of strikes and shootings affecting civilians in homes, shelters and public spaces over the past 10 days, including incidents in tents housing displaced families, on streets and in vehicles, as well as at a medical facility and a classroom.

Among those killed were women, children, people with disabilities, a humanitarian contractor and a journalist, he said.

Turk cited the killing of a third-grade girl on April 9 when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowded tent encampment in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where she was attending a makeshift class.

A day earlier, an Al Jazeera journalist was killed in Gaza City in a drone strike. The Israeli military later said he had been a Hamas operative, a claim Turk said has been made in other cases involving journalists without independently verifiable evidence. The UN human rights office has recorded 294 Palestinian journalists killed since Oct. 7, 2023.

On April 6, Israeli forces shot at a vehicle carrying World Health Organization workers, killing the driver. Turk said 589 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, including 397 affiliated with the United Nations.

“The number of journalists and humanitarian personnel killed in Gaza is unprecedented,” Turk said, adding that the violence has made both reporting and humanitarian work increasingly dangerous.

He also warned that Palestinians are being killed for approaching or being near a shifting Israeli military boundary in Gaza, known as the “yellow line,” which he said is poorly marked. Targeting civilians not directly participating in hostilities constitutes a war crime, regardless of their proximity to military positions, he added.

Turk said conditions have been worsened by restrictions on humanitarian aid, destruction of civilian infrastructure and continued instability within Gaza.

“Palestinians have no blueprint for survival,” he said. “Whatever they do or don’t do, wherever they go or don’t go, there is no safety or protection afforded to them.”

He called on the international community to take concrete steps to ensure accountability and bring an end to violations of international law, saying that civilians must be allowed to begin rebuilding their lives after prolonged conflict.