Gaza - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory condemned the escalating Israeli operation in the northern West Bank, calling for an immediate halt to this dangerous wave of violence and mass displacement. According to the UN daily news bulletin, a copy of which we received this morning, Saturday.
The office said that Israeli forces have so far killed 44 Palestinians since the start of the operation on January 21, which affected the governorates of Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas and four refugee camps in those areas, many of whom were unarmed and did not pose a threat to life or threaten to cause serious injury.
The UN office reported that five children and two women were among the dead, and that one of the women killed was Sondos Shalabi, 23, who was fleeing the Nur Shams refugee camp with her husband on 9 February when Israeli forces opened fire on their car, critically injuring her husband. Sondos was then shot dead after she got out of the car to seek safety, and her fetus did not survive.

It pointed out that reports in the Israeli media indicated that an Israeli military investigation had initially concluded that Sondos and her husband, Yazan, were unarmed and did not pose a threat to life.

In its statement issued today, the office also addressed the incident of shooting 10-year-old Saddam Hussein Rajab in the chest, who died of his wounds on 7 February in the city of Tulkarm.

The office said that these practices are part of a growing pattern of unlawful Israeli use of force in the West Bank where there are no active hostilities, and add to a growing number of apparently unlawful killings documented by the office.
Unprecedented level of mass displacement
The human rights office said the operation also raises concerns about levels of mass displacement not seen in the occupied West Bank for decades, with the Israeli operation displacing nearly 40,000 Palestinians, according to UNRWA.
The office received daily reports from displaced residents describing a pattern of being driven from their homes by Israeli forces and drones under threat of violence, then forced out of their towns with snipers positioned on rooftops around them and homes in their neighbourhoods used as posts for Israeli forces.
The office cited the case of Aseel, a 29-year-old Palestinian mother of three, who has been displaced three times so far. First from her home in Jenin by Palestinian security forces last December while they were engaged in an operation in Jenin, and then by Israeli security forces when she tried to return in January. Her home was burned down shortly afterwards, according to photos shared by some of her neighbours.
After fleeing to Tulkarm to stay with her family, she was again displaced by Israeli security forces in late January when the ongoing Israeli operation spread from Jenin to neighbouring refugee camps.
The office reported that another young woman said she fled her home in Tulkarm in panic, barefoot and carrying her two children aged one and four, when she heard Israeli security forces threatening via loudspeakers mounted on jeeps and drones that anyone who did not leave immediately would be shot.
She pleaded with officers to go back inside to get her youngest child’s heart medication or at least put on shoes. But the response, she testified, was “Leave this place and forget about the camp. You will never come back. Move now before we destroy it completely.”
Investigation and accountability
The human rights office stressed that any forcible transfer or deportation of people from an occupied territory is strictly prohibited and constitutes a crime under international law.
It said displaced Palestinians must be allowed to return to their homes. Every incident of Palestinian killing must be investigated promptly, effectively and transparently, and perpetrators of unlawful killings must be held accountable, he said, adding that military commanders and other supervisors could be held responsible for crimes committed by their subordinates if they failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or punish unlawful killings.
He also stressed that Israel must comply with its other obligations under international law, which include ending its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as soon as possible and evacuating all West Bank settlements immediately, adding that while these goals are being achieved, Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure the protection of Palestinians, the provision of basic services and needs, and the full respect of the human rights of Palestinians.
Humanitarian assistance in Gaza
On the humanitarian front in Gaza, UNRWA said that its teams had reached more than 1.5 million people with essential food assistance in the Strip since the ceasefire began.
In a post on the X website, UNRWA reported that since the ceasefire it has opened 37 new emergency shelters, including seven in Gaza City and 30 in northern Gaza. It added that it operates 120 shelters across the Gaza Strip, hosting some 120,000 people.
Ongoing humanitarian crisis
In an interview with UN News, Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that "the situation in Gaza remains catastrophic for the children of Gaza."
She noted that it was good that the bombing and shooting, which was killing and injuring children, had stopped, but added that "the humanitarian crisis continues. I was in Gaza for two weeks and met many children who are still struggling to meet their basic needs for psychosocial support. And of course, no child has returned to school."