UN rights office warns Gaza displacement is ‘acute and chronic’ as winter nears

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on 30 October that Israeli forces are pushing Palestinians in Gaza into ever-smaller areas and destroying civilian infrastructure, warning that "the nightmare of displacement in Gaza is both acute and chronic".

OHCHR said Israel has stated that it aims to expand its military deployment to 70% of Gaza's territory. Over the past two weeks, the office documented Israeli deployment areas moving westwards in Al Shujaiyeh and Gaza City, and in eastern Al Bureij, Deir Al-Balah and Al Maghazi.

What OHCHR reported

• On 25 October, an Israeli drone struck tents sheltering displaced families at Al Shujaiyeh junction near the "yellow line", starting a fire that burned for five hours. About 200 families, some 800 people, were displaced, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
• OHCHR said Israeli forces appear to treat the yellow line as a "kill zone", preventing people from returning to what is left of their homes.
• It said Israeli restrictions on shelter supplies are deepening the crisis.

Ajith Sunghay, head of UN Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, said people are facing "the fourth winter in tents too flimsy to withstand the rain", adding: "Let this be the last."

The legal position

OHCHR said that, as an occupying power, Israel must stop forcibly transferring Palestinians within Gaza, which it described as a war crime that may also amount to a crime against humanity. The UN report did not include a response from the Israeli government.