UN experts urge States to act as Israeli violations threaten fragile Gaza ceasefire

GENEVA – Israel’s continuing violations of the ceasefire in Gaza are threatening the fragile truce, UN experts* warned today, urging all States to ensure attacks against civilians cease immediately and unhindered delivery of aid, including medical aid, is allowed into the area.

“Since the ceasefire was announced on 11 October, Israel has reportedly committed at least 393 violations, killing 339 Palestinians, including more than 70 children, and injuring over 871 others,” the experts said. “The 28 October airstrikes marked the deadliest single night since the ceasefire began, with at least 104 Palestinians killed.”

Attacks continued to be reported across all five governorates of Gaza despite the “ceasefire”, with reports of gunfire, artillery shelling, and airstrikes.

“The ongoing Israeli attacks against the Palestinian population in Gaza constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the experts said. They urged the international community to step up pressure to make the ceasefire effective and save lives.

Humanitarian access remains critically restricted with only two of six crossings being reopened. “The volume of aid trucks entering Gaza has never reached the agreed target of 600 per day and has frequently fallen below half that number,” the experts said.

They noted that major hospitals are only partially functional and require restoration, equipment and supplies to reach full operational capacity.

“Continuing failure to ensure that the UN, through UNRWA and OCHA, directly manages aid delivery and distribution in Gaza, as mandated by international law, is unacceptable and cannot be justified,” the experts said.

Violence in the occupied West Bank has also continued to escalate as armed Israeli settlers and soldiers intensify assaults on Palestinian civilians, land, and property. “In a move that would advance de jure annexation, which is absolutely prohibited, the Israeli Parliament is also advancing legislation to extend Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank,” the experts said.

“It is past time to fully implement the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion ordering the dismantlement of Israel’s occupation and the system of racial segregation and apartheid it entails,” they said.

While welcoming the ceasefire, the experts expressed concern that justice and accountability were absent from the current arrangement and the peace plan proposed by the United States. “There can be no lasting peace without accountability for the crimes committed since 7 October 2023,” they said.

“We warned that so-called peace initiatives allowing one side to retain militarised control over Gaza would not end occupation but entrench it. Sadly, this is unfolding before our eyes,” they said. “After two years of genocidal assault, this ‘peace plan’ risks adding insult to injury.”

Over 58 per cent of Gaza reportedly remains under Israeli military control, with 40 active Israeli sites still operating beyond the agreed withdrawal line, in clear breach of the ceasefire terms.

The Security Council resolution on an “International Stabilization Force (ISF)” to coordinate with Israel and Egypt in border management, alongside newly trained Palestinian police, risks replicating – if not aggravating – the model of security coordination that has entrenched Israel’s settler-colonial apartheid regime in the West Bank, the experts said.

The experts urged Member States to act decisively to end the pattern of systematic violations of international law and suffering in occupied Palestine and restore international peace and security.

They called for the following urgent measures:

• Guaranteeing safe humanitarian access through UN-supervised land and naval corridors, including temporary housing before winter;
• Opening humanitarian corridors toward the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel for the wounded, sick, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, and children;
• Imposing sanctions on Israel for continued violations of international law and illegal occupation;
• A comprehensive arms embargo on Israel;
• Full and free access to international media to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including throughout Gaza.
• Ensuring that independent, international investigations are conducted into serious violations of international law, including the killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip, and that prosecutions are initiated under universal jurisdiction;
• Considering a UN-led international intervention if attacks persist and the humanitarian situation deteriorates further.

To learn more about Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the Question of Palestine, click here to visit the dedicated webpage.