Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify amid surge of West Bank settler violence

Israeli attacks on Gaza intensify amid surge of West Bank settler violence
Amid intensified deadly Israeli attacks in Gaza, the UN chief and top officials condemned the killings while a surge violence rocked the West Bank and aid agencies scrambled to help Palestinians.
Key takeaways
- Renewed deadly violence: Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza killed and injured dozens
- Mounting death toll: 57 Palestinians killed in Gaza over the last week, with deaths climbing above 1,100 since the October 2025 ceasefire
- “Yellow line” dangers: Palestinians remain trapped in a shrinking area as Israel continues shifting the “yellow line” westward, with many killings reported far from the line itself
- Rising West Bank settler violence: Settler attacks now account for 55 per cent of Palestinian injuries in the West Bank in 2026, with incidents rising sharply from one every three days in 2020 to over three per day in 2026
“We condemn all killings of civilians,” the UN Spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected.
Continued Israeli military operations, new displacement and deteriorating access further limited humanitarian assistance and heightened protection concerns across Gaza, according to the latest updates from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
Read OCHA’s report here.
Occupation must end
The Israeli military’s intensified attacks killed and injured dozens in Gaza in recent days, Thameen Al-Kheetan, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said at a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
Those recent attacks included an Israeli drone strike that killed seven people and others outside a grocery store, west of the Nuseirat refugee camp, and a teacher injured after reportedly being shot by a bullet fired by Israeli forces while she was working inside a temporary learning space, just west of Khan Younis.
Nine months after the ceasefire announcement, nowhere is safe for Palestinians in Gaza, Mr. Al-Kheetan said.
“The whole of the Gaza Strip is under the Israeli occupation,” he said. “Human rights of the Palestinians ought to be respected, the Israeli occupation has to end and a fair, durable two-State solution has to be implemented.”
Verified killings in Gaza
Israeli soldiers have killed over 1,100 Palestinians since the October 2025 ceasefire, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
OHCHR has so far verified the killing of 685 Palestinians from October to mid-April, including 283 women and children, mostly in Israeli attacks reported across the Gaza Strip.
From 13 to 20 July alone, OHCHR had recorded that the Israeli military had killed at least 57 Palestinians, including six children and eight women. Among the victims, 34 had been killed far away from the Israeli-imposed “yellow line”, painted concrete blocks Israel has installed across the Strip.
Trapped behind ‘yellow line’
Meanwhile, the Palestinian population in Gaza remained trapped in an ever-shrinking area, with the “yellow line” which marks the edge of Israeli military control constantly being moved westwards, Mr. Al-Kheetan said.
The situation reflects a continuous threat to life as the Israeli military appears to routinely fire on Palestinians for mere presence in the vicinity of that line, in violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, he warned.
The violations, the suffering and the misery that continue to be imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza cannot be ignored, he said, emphasising that third States had to take urgent action to insist on full respect for the ceasefire, to put an end to all violations and to ensure accountability and justice.
Push to revive education
After more than two years of prolonged disruption to learning in Gaza, humanitarian partners are continuing to restore and expand access to basic education wherever possible despite persistent insecurity issues and severe operational constraints, the UN Spokesperson said.
During the first half of 2026, partners helped 435,000 pre-primary and school-aged children, including approximately 9,300 children with disabilities, get access to structured learning through 610 temporary learning spaces.
Around 344,000 children also received essential learning and teaching materials and aid partners supported 11,000 teachers and education personnel through initiatives focused on education in emergencies, disability-inclusive programming, quality learning and safe learning environments.
Pressure on health facilities
UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Susanne Tkalec met with the leadership of the Emirati Hospital in Rafah on Monday to discuss practical solutions for strengthening medical waste management in Gaza.
“They discussed addressing risks linked to the safe collection, handling and disposal of medical waste, which is a big problem,” the UN Spokesperson said, adding that the visit occurred amid continued pressure on health facilities throughout the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners on Monday supported the medical evacuation of nine child patients and their 15 companions to Jordan and one adult patient and a companion to Türkiye.
Since October 2023, 12,700 patients, including 6,163 children, have been evacuated abroad to more than 30 countries for treatment.
“Many more people need to be evacuated from Gaza to receive medical help they cannot get currently there,” the UN Spokesperson said.
Israeli settler attacks in West Bank
Israeli settler attacks have become a leading cause of Palestinian injuries in the occupied West Bank, accounting for 55 per cent of all such cases in 2026, according to the UN relief agency, OCHA.
Israeli forces or settlers injured about 65 Palestinians between 7 and 13 July
Between 7 and 13 July, about 65 Palestinians, including 18 children and 10 women, were injured by Israeli forces or settlers.
During the same period, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man while he was attempting to cross the Barrier in Bir Nabala town to reach East Jerusalem and in a separate incident at the same location, another Palestinian was injured under similar circumstances.
Injuries linked to settler attacks have risen sharply, increasing from one injury every three days in 2020 to an average of two per day in 2025 and more than three per day so far in 2026.
Pepper spray and assaults
In the Hiwara community, south of Yatta in Hebron governorate, Israeli settlers injured 45 Palestinians, including 37 in five separate attacks targeting farmers.
During these attacks, settlers physically assaulted farmers or sprayed them with pepper spray while they were working on their agricultural land.
Among those injured were 12 children, 10 women and one elderly man.
Here are more OCHA updates:
- Since the beginning of 2026, about 850 Palestinians have been injured in the context of settler attacks, including nearly 690 by Israeli settlers and the remainder by Israeli forces
- Israeli settlers demolished the abandoned Al Yanoun School, while Ar Rifa’iyya School became at imminent risk of demolition following an Israeli court ruling
- Jabal al Aqra’a became the 47th Palestinian community to be fully displaced following recurrent settler attacks and related access restrictions since January 2023