Palestine: Human Rights Bulletin (Reporting period: 1 March – 31 March 2026) [EN/AR]

عربي

2 April 2026

March in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: 106 Palestinians killed by Israeli security and military forces as well as settlers, at least 13 communities displaced in the occupied West Bank, and recurrent closure of crossings into Gaza resulting in reduced aid flow and exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation.

This ad-hoc bulletin offers an overview of the human rights developments over the month of March based on the monitoring of UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OHCHR OPT). Sections feature illustrative examples, not exhaustive incident logs.

Gaza

killings and other violence

In March, at least 85 Palestinians were reportedly killed in Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Most attacks struck residential buildings, IDP tents and shelters, and public gatherings.

• On 15 March, an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Az Zawayda, Middle Gaza, killed an entire Palestinian family: the father, the pregnant mother, their 12-year-old son, and a 14-year-old boy from a neighboring tent (see statement).
• On 24 March, Israeli military forces opened fire and reportedly killed a 13-year-old boy while in his tent in Al Mawasi, western Khan Younis.
• On 30 March, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire from a machine gun mounted on a crane towards a displacement site in the Tal Al Hawa area, southern Gaza City, injuring a Palestinian woman in her tent.

Documented pattern: By the end of March, the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza since the announcement of a ceasefire agreement reached 713 according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with continued Israeli use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated civilian areas, causing mass casualties.

Attacks on law enforcement

• On 15 March, an Israeli airstrike on a police vehicle in Az Zawayda, Middle Gaza, killed 9 police personnel.
• On 22 March, a second airstrike on a police vehicle in An Nuseirat camp killed at least 3 more.

Documented pattern: Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli military has consistently targeted law enforcement and civil administration structures and officials in Gaza, compounding the breakdown of public order and civil life.

Destruction of urban space and recovery of the dead:

• Throughout March, Israeli military forces continued the detonation of residential buildings particularly in eastern Khan Younis, northern Rafah, eastern Gaza City, and Beit Lahiya in the north.
• The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the recovery of 21 bodies from under rubble in March.

Documented pattern: As of October 2025, 81% of all structures in Gaza had already been destroyed or damaged. Thousands remain missing in Gaza, many believed to be buried under rubble. Recovering and identifying the dead is excessively difficult due to the continued destruction of buildings, and the lingering Israeli ban on the entry of specialized recovery equipment, forensic identification tools such as DNA and print kits, and trained personnel.

Humanitarian access

• On 28 February, Israeli authorities closed all crossings into Gaza, suspending humanitarian movements, medical evacuations, and return of Palestinians stranded abroad. By 3 March, Kerem Shalom reopened as the sole cargo crossing while Rafah and Zikim remained closed.
• According to OCHA, in March, UN and partners coordinated 132 planned movements with the Israeli authorities. While 60 of them were facilitated, 16 were denied outright and 28 others were initially approved but impeded on the ground. 28 movements were cancelled by the organizers due to logistical, operational, or security reasons.
• On 19 March, Rafah crossing reopened for limited people movement, but remained intermittently closed throughout the rest of the month.
• On 22 March, Israeli forces detained a returning Palestinian man at Rafah crossing — the first such detention since the crossing’s partial reopening. The European Union Border Assistance Mission suspended operations in protest.

Documented pattern: Since 7 October 2023, Israel’s intermittent closure of crossings, restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid, and continued ban on the entry of essential supplies have produced chronic shortages of food, medicine, and basic goods across Gaza.

The West Bank, including East Jerusalem

Killings and other violence

During the reporting period, Israeli security forces shot and killed 15 Palestinians including one woman and four children in the occupied West Bank.

• On 15 March, in Tammun town, Tubas, undercover Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian family in their car: a father, a mother, and their 5 and 6-year-old sons, and assaulted the two surviving sons aged 10 and 11 (see statement). Israeli authorities have not called the involved soldiers for questioning.
• On 16 March, Israeli security forces reportedly shot and killed 17-year-old Saleem Sami Fuqaaha near Sinjil, northern Ramallah, and took the body away, refusing to hand it over to his family.
• On 27 March, Israeli security forces shot and killed 22-year-old Mustafa Hamad during a raid in Qalandiya refugee camp. Later the same day, during a second raid, Israeli forces shot in the head and killed 46-year-old Sufian Abu Leil while Mustafa Hamad’s funeral procession was leaving the cemetery.

Documented pattern: Israeli security forces and settlers killed at least 1,078 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023, nearly 1 in 5 of whom were children. For all killings perpetrated by Israeli security forces of Palestinians recorded by OHCHR in the occupied West Bank since 2017, there has only been 1 conviction in 2020 with a sentence of 3 months of military service, and 3 months of suspended prison time.

Settler violence

• Settlers killed 6 Palestinians in March alone, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed by settlers in the first three months of 2026 to 8, compared to at least 7 in all of 2025.
• Settler violence caused the displacement of at least 13 communities in the reporting period, partially or completely, mostly in the Northern Jordan Valley.
• According to OCHA, at least 150 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage have been recorded in March, affecting 90 communities—averaging more than six attacks per day.
• On 8 March, settlers attacked Khirbet Abu Fallah village in Ramallah and shot and killed 57-year-old Far’ Hamayel. Israeli security forces joined the attack and shot and killed 24-year-old Thaer Hamayel. Settlers then erected an outpost in the village. No settlers were arrested for the attack.
• On 14 March, Israeli settlers from a newly established outpost shot and killed 28-year-old Amir Odeh and assaulted and stabbed his father in the leg when he tried to assist him during an attack on Al-Karak area, Qusra village, in southern Nablus.
• On 26 March, Israeli settlers shot and killed 37-year-old Mohammad Al Malhi while establishing an outpost on Al Malhi’s family land in Bethlehem.

Documented patterns:

• In the first three months of 2026, settler violence and access restrictions displaced 1,697 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank according to OCHA, already surpassing the 1,658 Palestinians displaced under the same circumstances in all of 2025.
• In the 20 years between 2005 and 2025, 93.6% of all Israeli police investigations into settler violence against Palestinians ended without indictments, and only 3% of these investigations led to full or partial convictions with mostly lenient sentences, according to Yesh Din.
• Settlers are explicitly shielded from the newly introduced death penalty law approved by the Knesset on 30 March, which will exclusively apply to Palestinians for killing Israelis in the occupied West Bank (see statement).

East Jerusalem displacements

• Between 22 and 25 March, Israeli security forces evicted 16 Palestinian families, at least 70 Palestinians, from their homes in Batn al Hawa, Silwan, with their homes immediately transferred to settlers.
• On 30 March, Israeli authorities demolished several residential and non-residential structures including the homes of five Palestinian families in Al Bustan, Silwan, citing lack of building permits. Fifty Palestinians were displaced as a result including women, children, and persons with disabilities.

Documented pattern: Since 7 October 2023, Israeli authorities displaced at least 28 Palestinian households comprising around 160 people from Batn al Hawa neighbourhood, transferring their homes to Israeli settlers. Over 200 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem, comprising approximately 900 people, face eviction cases in Israeli courts, mostly filed by settlers, with the threat of forced displacement.

Marking religious occasions

Israeli authorities have imposed a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people as a security measure across Israel and the occupied West Bank since the start of the armed conflict in the region on 28 February. Israeli authorities also imposed closures and tightened movement restrictions that largely paralyzed movement between Palestinian West Bank communities, citing security grounds.

• Al Aqsa and Ibrahimi mosques remained closed to worshipers since 28 February, including through most of Ramadan and during Eid.
• On 3 March, thousands of Jewish Israelis gathered in Jerusalem and celebrated in synagogues to mark Purim. Israeli police acknowledged the gatherings in a statement to Israeli media the next morning and said that officers “repeatedly announced” to the thousands of revelers in Jerusalem that their gatherings were in violation of Home Front Command’s guidelines.
• On 20 March, Israeli security forces reportedly used batons, tear gas, and stun grenades to disperse Palestinians gathering for Eid al-Fitr prayers in the streets of Jerusalem surrounding the Old City.
• On 29 March, despite prior coordination with Israeli authorities, the Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Fr. Francesco Ielpo, the Custos of the Holy Land and official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, from entering the church to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.