Image Source: EuroNews
Occupied Gaza Strip – The United Nations and NGO’s have warned that Palestinians in Gaza face growing danger as areas under Israeli control continue to expand, with humanitarian operations increasingly constrained as a result.
According to the statement by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the expansion had continued since the ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025, with Israeli forces using lethal force to enforce access restrictions in affected areas by killing Palestinians who move too close to deployment lines.
“Between 10 October 2025 and early April 2026, the UN verified the killing of 196 Palestinians, including 18 women and 43 children, in Israeli attacks reported near areas where Israeli forces are deployed. Many were reportedly killed while moving through areas lacking clear demarcation on the ground. Many others have been injured,” the statement read.
Aid Operations Scaled Back
Humanitarian access remains severely constrained by movement restrictions, causing delays or pauses in life-saving activities. Some partners had to scale down or temporarily suspend operations, particularly after service providers were killed in those areas, affecting up to thousands of families in the vicinity.
The HCT added that expanding control measures were reducing the space available to civilians, with most Palestinians in Gaza having been displaced multiple times and now concentrated in increasingly limited areas amid insecurity and violence.
“Access to essential services is already strained by the insufficient entry of critical goods into Gaza. This situation is further compounded by the continued expansion and shifting of deployment lines.”
Calls for Protection and Access
In response to the deteriorating conditions, the UN made a series of demands aimed at protecting civilians and securing the delivery of aid and called for full compliance with international legal obligations across the territory.
“The United Nations and humanitarian NGOs call for an immediate end to the targeting of Palestinians for being in areas close to Israeli forces; the protection of civilians at all times and full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law; safe and unimpeded humanitarian access into and across all parts of the Gaza Strip.”
