The UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory calls for an end to the senseless killings in the occupied West Bank. Israel must stop all extrajudicial executions and other unlawful use of force in the occupied West Bank. Over the last two weeks, Israeli security forces have killed two Palestinian men in planned summary executions, while seven Palestinians were killed in conditions that raise concerns of the use of unnecessary or disproportionate lethal force. An Israeli woman was shot and killed on a highway in the occupied West Bank by as yet unidentified assailants. Israel must ensure that all those responsible for unlawful killings are brought to justice in fair trials.

On 8 May, Israeli undercover forces appear to have summarily executed a 30-year-old “wanted” Palestinian man in the old city of Nablus. CCTV footage suggests that an undercover officer killed the man while he tried to surrender and then shot him again as he lay on the ground injured and incapacitated, seemingly to “confirm the killing”. Claims from Israeli security forces that the man was armed and posing a threat to them appear to be contradicted by this video evidence. On 2 May, disguised Israeli security forces chased and killed a 39-year-old “wanted” Palestinian man in Balata refugee camp in Nablus. Although Israeli security forces claimed that they found a gun and cartridges in his car, they made no claim that he posed a threat to life at the moment he was shot. On 14 May, Israeli security forces reportedly fired live ammunition and injured a young Palestinian man in his thigh near the Qalandiya Refugee Camp, Jerusalem. A video shows two Israeli soldiers repeatedly kicking the man in the head, while he lay injured on the floor. The soldiers then walked away, without carrying out an arrest or providing medical assistance to the man who, in addition to live ammunition injury, reportedly incurred head hemorrhage due to the Israeli soldiers’ kicking.

Meanwhile, also on 15 May, armed Palestinians reportedly shot and killed a pregnant 30-year-old Israeli woman on the highway near Brukhin settlement, west of Salfit, also injuring her husband. Following the incident, Israeli security forces closed several checkpoints in the northern and central West Bank and imposed severe movement restrictions particularly around Burqin, and Salfit, while an Israeli minister called for “flattening” Palestinian villages in response. Israeli security forces must ensure that measures adopted following the attack complies with international law, including the prohibition of collective punishment. 

The UN Human Rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) somberly marks World Press Freedom Day as Palestinian journalists continue to be killed or injured at an alarming rate with impunity, along with widespread attacks on their work and freedom.

“Press vests have transformed from a means of protection to a target for attacks,” one journalist told the UN Human Rights office in the OPT. The Office has independently verified the killing of 211 journalists in Gaza since 7 October 2023, including 28 woman journalists. According to UNESCO, at least 47 journalists were killed while on duty. And as of 29 April 2025, 49 Palestinian journalists are held in Israeli detention based on the information from Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military have refused to allow foreign journalists entry to Gaza since 7 October 2023, except for limited army-controlled visits – Palestinian journalists endure the trauma of both living under and reporting on the devastation and death inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza by Israel’s military campaign. They are forced to balance the fear for their lives with their professional commitment to go out and report on daily horrors.

Journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected from attack unless directly participating in hostilities. There are strong indications of incidents in which many Palestinian journalists may have been directly targeted by the Israeli military during their work, which would be a war crime.

Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the resilience of Palestinian journalists also persists despite significant, dangerous and targeted backlash against their work. The UN Human Rights Office has monitored multiple cases of journalists detained, a significant number of whom appear to have been detained arbitrarily. Many are held under administrative detention, while others have been detained under broad allegations of “incitement” for social media posts, in many cases for apparently protected speech, as part of wider ongoing efforts to silence civil society and annihilate any form of opposition to the military occupation. Both men and women journalists detained by Israeli security forces have reported to the UN Human Rights Office that they have been subjected to beatings, humiliation and sexual and gender-based violence during interrogations about their journalistic work.

Detention, threats, ill-treatment and sexual violence against journalists falls into a larger pattern of intimidation and smears against Palestinian press across the OPT, where their legitimate work is often claimed by Israeli security forces to be associated with “terrorism” including as a justification to shut down media offices.

Palestinian authorities have further contributed to the oppressive environment for journalists, including by banning certain media entities from broadcasting in the West Bank since January 2025, reportedly for publishing “inciting content, misinformation, sedition and interference in Palestinian internal affairs”. They have also threatened Palestinian journalists not to feed information to their media outlets. The shutdown came in the context of often critical coverage of a 6-week operation by Palestinian security forces in Jenin refugee camp, which started in December 2024.

Both Palestinian and Israeli security forces have banned or limited journalists’ entry to the Jenin and other refugee camps in northern West Bank. They injured, detained, threatened and in some cases subjected journalists to ill-treatment.

There have also been reports of journalists harassed by Hamas authorities in Gaza, where they were reportedly pressured to refrain from covering sensitive incidents or information critical of the de facto authorities.

The targeting of journalists is a violation of both international humanitarian law and international human rights law and must cease immediately. Perpetrators of attacks on journalists must be held accountable, including by third party States. The killing of journalists in Gaza and the suppression of media coverage across the OPT has likely contributed to the creation of an enabling environment for ongoing violations of international law that the UN Human Rights Office and other entities have repeatedly raised concerns about. The press is a vital part of ensuring accountability for international law violations, and attempts to suppress media work, including through the killing, detention, ill-treatment, threatening of journalists, or shutting down their offices, are disturbing and entirely unacceptable. 

The UN Human Rights Office is alarmed by the breakdown of public order in Gaza, with recent allegations of killings and unnecessary or disproportionate use of force in crowd control by local police. The siege of Gaza has now entered its second month as the humanitarian situation grows even more dire.

Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza have served to dismantle and destroy Gaza’s governance and law enforcement structures, contributing to a deterioration of public order that threatens the safety of Palestinians and their access to basic services and life-saving humanitarian aid. The situation is further exacerbated by Israel’s complete closure of crossings into Gaza, preventing entry of any goods or essential supplies as families struggle to find the basic necessities such as food and water.

As vital aid becomes scarcer and people become more desperate, our Office has received reports of several incidents alleging the unnecessary or disproportionate use of force by local police against crowds seeking food. On 1 April, a Palestinian police officer allegedly discharged his firearm while attempting to control a crowd at a flour shop in Deir al Balah, killing a Palestinian man. Later, the family of the victim reportedly apprehended and killed the unarmed police officer in broad daylight. On 2 April, in a similar incident, local security personnel reportedly shot and killed a Palestinian man while managing aid distribution to a crowd at a warehouse in At Tuffah, Gaza City.

Of further concern are allegations of the arbitrary detention, torture and killing of a young Palestinian man, raising concerns of extrajudicial execution. On 28 March, armed Palestinian men reportedly took the victim from his shelter in Tal al Hawa in Gaza City, allegedly because of his participation in demonstrations criticizing Hamas and calling for an end to the war that took place in several locations in Gaza between 25 and 27 March. A few hours later, the family found him stripped, handcuffed, blindfolded, and beaten with a rope around his neck in front of a hospital in the neighbourhood. He succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards. There are also reports that other individuals have been summoned by the local de facto authorities on account of their participation in the demonstrations.

Such killings and the use of excessive force in civilian crowd control and undue restrictions on the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture are unacceptable. While recognizing the challenges faced by the law enforcement system in Gaza, due to the systematic destruction by Israel, we remind any remaining de facto authorities including local law enforcement in Gaza of their obligation to comply with international human rights law standards on the use of force, including in crowd control, and underscore the need for prompt and effective investigations into any allegation of unlawful killings and other violations of human rights law. We further urge Israel to immediately fulfil its obligations by taking all feasible steps to ensure public order and civil life in Gaza, in particular by respecting, protecting and ensuring the human rights of the population, including by immediately facilitating the entry of aid and assistance and refraining from attacking Gaza’s justice and civilian law enforcement systems. 

As hundreds of thousands of Palestinians move back to northern Gaza, violence and displacement continue to afflict both Gaza and the West Bank, raising more concerns about violations of international law and renewing calls for an immediate end to all violence and accountability.

On the move in Gaza

With the return of possibly hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to northern Gaza, the UN Human Rights Office reaffirms the rights of Palestinians to safety, protection, and dignity on their way back to what is left of their homes.

The journey is difficult, with many unable to afford transportation and forced to walk long distances with unreliable telecommunication networks and no available toilets. This is particularly hard for the most vulnerable groups and the families who support them, including children, pregnant women, older people, and people with disabilities forced to make the journey without adequate assistance. Reports raise concern about an increasing number of children being separated from their families while on the move.

As the occupying power, Israel has the obligation to ensure the provision of shelter, food and medical care and to restore and maintain public order and normal civil life for the Palestinian people. Israel is also prohibited from subjecting Palestinians to deportation outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory or forcible transfer within it.

Killings continue around “buffer zones”

The continued killings of Palestinians since the beginning of the ceasefire in and around vaguely defined and poorly communicated “buffer zones” in Gaza, particularly in the vicinity of the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors and along the eastern barrier fence, is cause for alarm.

As of 27 January, the Israeli military reportedly killed at least 14 Palestinians, including 2 boys and 1 girl, mostly around these so-called “buffer zones” since the onset of the ceasefire on 19 January. Among those killed are two Palestinian brothers, including a boy, who were killed while reportedly checking their home in Rafah outside of such a zone.

The Israeli military remains bound by international humanitarian law’s principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions, as well as the relevant human rights rules on use of force applicable to law enforcement. As a matter of urgency, it must take immediate steps to ensure its rules of engagement prevent further unlawful civilian deaths.

Growing violence in the West Bank

Accountability and adherence to international law are also urgently needed in the West Bank, where a large-scale operation is unfolding with devastating consequences for Palestinians, both in terms of violence and displacement. Since 19 January, Israeli security forces killed 20 Palestinians including a 16-year-old boy in East Jerusalem on Monday.

Deadly operation in Jenin

An Israeli operation has continued in Jenin since 21 January with deadly consequences and was extended this week to Tulkarem. Israeli security forces have so far killed at least 18 Palestinians in this operation, most of whom are reportedly unarmed.

This includes a two-year-old girl who was shot dead in her home by Israeli security forces on Saturday.

After weeks of siege and use of force by both the Israeli and Palestinian security forces, 3,000 families from the Jenin Refugee Camp have been forced to flee – about 80 percent of total Camp residents. The remaining families are living in grave danger with no access to water, electricity, and other basic services.

Videos circulating on the internet and reported by the media show evidence of Israeli security forces targeting Palestinians clearly posing no threat to life or limb. The use of tactics and weapons developed for war such as airstrikes in the West Bank where there are no active hostilities violates the international human rights law standards applicable to law enforcement.

On Monday afternoon, the Israeli military expanded its operations to Tulkarem and its two refugee camps, where further destruction of roads and infrastructure is reportedly ongoing. According to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office, several Palestinian families were already forced to leave their homes by the Israeli military for the duration of the operation, despite the fact they have nowhere to go in the middle of the winter.

Raids and movement restrictions continue

In addition, Israeli security forces in recent days have continued their routine raids of Palestinian communities across the West Bank including in Hebron, Nablus, and Bethlehem. Houses of Palestinian prisoners released as part of the ceasefire deal were also raided to prevent any “display of joy.”

Suffocating restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement across the West Bank persisted for the tenth consecutive day today, practically tearing communities apart and largely paralysing daily life.

Human rights central to the way forward

The continued implementation of the ceasefire deal in Gaza provides hope that an end to the horrors of the past 15 months is in sight. Israel and Palestinian armed groups must do everything in their power to make sure the ceasefire is sustainable so that the massive protection and humanitarian needs of the civilian population in Gaza can be addressed, and the process of a human rights-based recovery and reconstruction can commence.

A vital prerequisite for this goal is to ensure strict adherence to international law in this critical time. The international community must also prioritize accountability for the crimes under international law committed over the past 15 months to facilitate redress and justice for victims. To prevent recurrence, it is essential that the root causes of the conflict are addressed based on international law, in particular human rights. This includes ending Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and ensuring accountability as the basis of just and lasting peace that fulfills the rights of Palestinians and Israelis.