The U.N. human rights office said Israeli forces may be committing unlawful killings near the military armistice line in Gaza, after data showed that roughly a third of verified Palestinian deaths since the October truce occurred close to the boundary area.
The office said such actions could amount to war crimes if civilians were being shot merely for approaching the zone. Israel’s military, which says operations near the line are aimed at preventing militant attacks, did not immediately comment on the allegations.
Israel has marked the armistice boundary with Hamas using a “yellow line” painted on the ground and separated by concrete blocks. Israeli troops remain deployed to the east of the line, while Hamas controls territory further west along the coastal strip.
However, residents and aid agencies say the military has repeatedly moved the markers deeper into Gaza. Israeli military maps now indicate that a widened restricted zone covers nearly two-thirds of the enclave.
The expanding area under Israeli military control has heightened fears among displaced Palestinians sheltering in tents and damaged buildings near the boundary, amid concerns they could be treated as military targets simply for entering or approaching the area.
The U.N. data, shared exclusively with Reuters, documented 453 verified killings between the start of the ceasefire and February 5. Of those, 152 Palestinians — including 102 men, 15 women, 24 boys and 11 girls — were killed near the boundary area, the office said.
“The available information raises serious concerns that the Israeli army is shooting at and killing presumed civilians simply on the basis of their proximity to the so-called yellow line, which would amount to unlawful killings and thus war crimes,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“Civilians do not appear to have posed any risk to the life of the Israeli military, including some cases in which they appear to have been shot while carrying out daily activities or having approached or crossed Israel’s so-called yellow line,” he said.
Sunghay added that the location of the boundary was often unclear to Palestinians.
“Nobody clearly knows exactly where it starts, where it ends, and how it moves, and when it moves,” he said.
Israeli officials describe the territory seized in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon as “buffer zones” intended to prevent future militant attacks following the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza war.
The ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump has not stopped Israeli attacks in Gaza, and Israel has continued targeting Hamas leaders, killing two in the past fortnight.
Gaza health authorities say around 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the truce began, though they have not provided a breakdown by location.
Israel’s military says four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period. Hamas has not released figures for its own fighters killed in the war.
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