DaysofPal – The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that Israeli occupation forces may have committed unlawful killings amounting to war crimes after shooting Palestinians near what is known as the “Yellow Line” in the Gaza Strip.
According to the UN office, nearly one-third of the Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces since the ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza were killed in areas close to the “Yellow Line,” a military boundary established following the October 2025 truce agreement.
The office explained that the line, which initially began as a temporary field measure after the ceasefire, has gradually evolved into a broader geographic reality imposing severe restrictions on Palestinian movement across Gaza. The change has coincided with an expansion of Israeli military control over large parts of the territory.
UN data obtained by Reuters showed that 453 Palestinians were killed between the start of the ceasefire and February 5. Of those, 152 were killed near the “Yellow Line,” including 102 men, 15 women, 24 boys, and 11 girls.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the available information raised “serious concerns” that Israeli forces were firing on civilians solely for approaching the area surrounding the “Yellow Line.”
He warned that such actions “may amount to unlawful killings and therefore war crimes,” adding that the civilians targeted “did not pose a threat to the lives of Israeli soldiers.” Sunghay stated that some victims were shot while carrying out ordinary daily activities, while others were targeted after approaching or crossing the area.
He also stressed that Palestinians have no clear understanding of the boundaries of the Israeli military zone.
“No one knows exactly where it begins, where it ends, how it moves, or when it moves,” he said.
Following the ceasefire agreement, Israel established a separation line with Hamas-controlled areas using spaced concrete blocks while keeping Israeli troops deployed east of the boundary.
According to the report, Israeli occupation forces later continued moving the barriers deeper into Palestinian territory. Israeli maps reportedly showed the military-controlled zone expanding to cover nearly two-thirds of the Gaza Strip.
The growing expansion has increased fears among displaced Palestinians, many of whom are living in tents or damaged homes close to the “Yellow Line,” worrying that those areas could become military targets while the amount of available civilian space continues to shrink.
The United Nations had previously warned in another report that Israel expanded its control inside Gaza through the creation of what has been referred to as the “Orange Line” inside the existing “Yellow Line.” Israeli occupation forces had withdrawn to that area during the first phase of the October 2025 plan intended to end the war.
According to the report, the “Yellow Line” confined Palestinians to only 47 percent of Gaza’s territory. The addition of the “Orange Line” placed another 8 to 9 percent of the enclave under Israeli military control, effectively reducing the area available to Palestinians to roughly 38 percent of the Gaza Strip.
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