The United Nations human rights office has warned that Israeli forces in Gaza are continuing to displace Palestinians and that their actions continue to raise concerns of ethnic cleansing, a year after a ceasefire was supposed to have taken hold.

On Friday, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said Palestinians were being repeatedly displaced into an ever-shrinking part of Gaza, as the military pushes the Yellow Line further west.

The Yellow Line as a 'kill zone'

The OHCHR said Israeli forces appear to treat the Yellow Line as a kill zone, barring Palestinians from returning home, while destroying civilian infrastructure and attacking displacement sites.

The agency documented the military's westward expansion over the past two weeks, triggering new displacement in Gaza City and central Gaza. It said Israel's stated aim is to increase its military deployment area to 70 percent of Gaza's territory.

A nightmare both acute and chronic

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, called it a nightmare both acute and chronic. The office said Israel must cease forcible transfer, a war crime that may also amount to a crime against humanity.

At least four Palestinians were killed in attacks on Saturday, including teacher Diaa Abu al-Rous, killed in shelling of the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to al-Awda Hospital. Six have been killed over the past 48 hours, the Health Ministry said, bringing the toll since the ceasefire to at least 1,580 killed and 5,711 wounded.

Killings continue despite the ceasefire

The toll since October 2023 stands at more than 74,500 killed and over 175,800 wounded, Gaza's health authorities say. The US-brokered ceasefire took effect on 11 October 2025, meant to halt the killing and open the way to reconstruction. A year on, neither has arrived.

[Source: The Curtain](https://thecurtain.online/story/gaza-ceasefire-name-only-un-warning/) | [Source: Al Jazeera](https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/news/2026/10/30/ethnic-cleansing-fears-rise-as-israel-squeezes-space-in-gaza-un)