UN human rights experts have condemned air strikes that ignited tents and shelters in Gaza and warned that repeated displacements amount to forcible transfer and breaches of international humanitarian law. They highlighted severe humanitarian risks for civilians — particularly women and children — and documented a sharp rise in forced displacement in the occupied West Bank. A UN report says more than 36,000 Palestinians were displaced amid expanding settlement activity in 2025. The experts called for investigations, accountability, and measures to enable safe returns.
UN Experts Condemn Strikes on Gaza Shelters and Escalating Forced Displacement in West Bank
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, was one of the experts [Gregorio Borgia/AP]
United Nations human rights experts have renewed urgent calls for an immediate end to strikes on displaced Palestinians in Gaza and to measures that forcibly displace people in the occupied West Bank.
A statement published on Monday by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and issued by a panel of UN special rapporteurs detailed multiple incidents in March in which air strikes ignited tents and makeshift shelters used by displaced Gaza residents, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.
“This cycle of displacement, terror, and targeted attacks serves an ultimate purpose: to make life unbearable for Palestinians and permanently force them from their land.”
Humanitarian Impact
The experts warned that most of Gaza’s population has already been displaced repeatedly, a pattern that they say amounts to forcible transfer under international law. They warned that deliberately striking areas known to shelter displaced civilians is a grave breach of international humanitarian law.
People living in tents and improvised shelters face severe humanitarian and health risks, including hunger, exposure to extreme cold, flooding, and lack of basic services such as clean water, sanitation and medical care. The panel emphasized that women and children bear a disproportionate share of these deprivations.
Forced Displacement in the West Bank
The experts also criticized a sharp escalation in forced displacement across the occupied West Bank, attributing it to actions by the Israeli army and what they described as "State-backed settler terrorism." The statement documents daily attacks that have led to killings, injuries, harassment of women and children, and widespread destruction of Palestinian homes, farmland and livelihoods.
According to a report from the UN Human Rights Office, more than 36,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced amid expanding illegal settlement activity in 2025. The experts said the scale and pattern of these actions "shows once again the ongoing broader policy of ethnic cleansing across the occupied Palestinian territory."
Calls For Action
The panel urged Israel to halt all ongoing forced displacement in the West Bank and to facilitate the safe return of displaced Palestinians. They called on states to remember their legal obligations, to demand credible investigations, and to avoid assisting policies that perpetuate occupation without accountability.
The panel consisted of 13 UN experts, including special rapporteurs on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory (Francesca Albanese), on the rights of internally displaced persons (Paula Gaviria Betancur), on the right to food (Michael Fakhri), and on violence against women and girls (Reem Alsalem).
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