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UN cites strikes, no safe place
The UN Human Rights Office condemned Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip, saying strikes hit residential buildings, a tent sheltering displaced people, and other densely populated areas despite a ceasefire announced in October.
UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said, "Nine months after the announcement of a ceasefire, still, nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza," while he decried that "the Israeli military has intensified its attacks in Gaza in recent days, killing and injuring dozens of Palestinians".
The Times of Israel reported that the UN rights office said Israeli strikes killed at least 57 Palestinians, including six children and eight women, from July 13 to 20, while the Qatar Tribune said Palestinian authorities put the figure at 1,100 people killed in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire was announced in October.
The UN rights office also said 34 of the victims were "killed far away from the Israeli-imposed yellow line," and it warned that the killing of civilians raises concerns of continuing violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes in Gaza.
Family deaths and competing tolls
In Gaza City, an Israeli air strike killed a man, his wife and their four children in the Sabra neighbourhood, with health officials saying the strike hit the al-Masri family home as the family was sleeping.
Abu Yusuf al-Masri told Reuters, "We were unable to save our grandchildren and children from the flames and the devastation," adding, "There is no relative calm, and there is no safe place at all," as rescue workers struggled to put out fires and bring out bodies.
The UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva that "the Israeli military has intensified its attacks in Gaza in recent days, killing and injuring dozens of Palestinians," and he said the office recorded at least 57 Palestinians killed from July 13 to 20.
The Straits Times similarly said the UN condemned intensifying Israeli attacks and cited that the Israeli attacks had killed "at least 57 Palestinians, including six children" from July 13 to July 20, while Anadolu Ajansı reported the same UN framing that the violence continued despite the ceasefire.
Yellow line, accountability, and risk
The UN rights office warned that Israel’s constant moving of the "yellow line" westwards left the Palestinian population "trapped in an ever-shrinking area," and it said this presents a "continuous threat to life" as the Israeli military appears to routinely fire on Palestinians near the line.
“The UN human rights office warned of the escalation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in recent days and the civilian toll they have caused, calling for respect for the ceasefire and accountability for violations”
Thameen Al-Kheetan said, "a continuous threat to life as the Israeli military appears to routinely fire on Palestinians for mere presence in the vicinity of that line," while he stressed that the killing of civilians raises concerns of continuing violations of international humanitarian law and possible war crimes.
The UN rights office urged third states to ensure respect for the ceasefire, end violations, and secure accountability and justice, and it warned of possible war crimes and other atrocity crimes in Gaza.
In parallel, the UN rights office said it had verified the killing of 685 Palestinians through mid-April 2026, while it continued verification, and it said the Palestinian Health Ministry reported more than 1,100 Palestinians killed since October 2025.
