Exclusive: UN data shows one-third of Gaza deaths since truce near 'yellow line'; warns of unlawful killings

By Emma Farge

GENEVA, May 27 (Reuters) – Roughly one out of every three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces after the October truce were struck down near the military's armistice line with Hamas, according to United Nations data that raises fresh questions about whether troops are shooting civilians solely for stepping too close to the demarcation.

The U.N. human rights office, which shared the figures exclusively with Reuters, said the pattern suggests the Israeli military may be treating any presence near the so-called “yellow line” as a target, even when the individuals posed no visible threat. Such actions, if confirmed, would amount to unlawful killings and therefore war crimes, the office warned.

Israel’s military, which maintains its fire near the boundary is intended to neutralize militant threats, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the allegations. The ceasefire brokered earlier by U.S. President Donald Trump has failed to halt Israeli strikes in Gaza, and hostilities have continued to claim lives on both sides.

The armistice line – marked by a yellow line on the ground and intermittent concrete blocks – was established as part of the truce agreement with Hamas. Israeli forces remain stationed east of the line, while Hamas controls a narrow coastal strip to the west. But the military has repeatedly pushed those blocks deeper into Hamas-held territory, effectively expanding the restricted zone to cover nearly two-thirds of Gaza, according to Israeli maps reviewed by Reuters.

That expansion has stoked fear among displaced Palestinians living in tent camps and bombed-out homes near the line, who worry they may be deemed military targets as the population is squeezed into an ever-shrinking patch of land. The U.N. says the shifting boundary has left civilians uncertain where safety ends and danger begins.

‘Nobody clearly knows where it starts’

The U.N. data covers 453 verified killings from the start of the ceasefire on October 7 through February 5. Of those, 152 Palestinians – including 102 men, 15 women, 24 boys and 11 girls – were killed near the boundary. The office described the toll as “alarming”.

“The available information raises serious concerns that the Israeli army is shooting at and killing presumed civilians simply on the basis of their proximity to the so-called yellow line, which would amount to unlawful killings and thus war crimes,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“Civilians do not appear to have posed any risk to the life of the Israeli military, including some cases in which they appear to have been shot while carrying out daily activities or having approached or crossed Israel’s so-called yellow line,” Sunghay added. He noted that the boundary’s location is often unclear to Palestinians: “Nobody clearly knows exactly where it starts, where it ends, and how it moves, and when it moves.”

Israel has described the territory it has seized across Gaza, southern Syria and southern Lebanon as “buffer zones” meant to prevent future militant attacks following the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023 that triggered the war. But rights groups and the U.N. argue the zones are being imposed unilaterally, without clear legal basis, and are causing disproportionate harm to civilians.

Since the ceasefire, overall Palestinian death toll from Israeli strikes has reached roughly 900, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not provide a breakdown by location. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period, Israel’s military said. Hamas has not released figures on its own combatant deaths.

The U.N.’s findings add to mounting international pressure on Israel to clarify rules of engagement along the armistice line and to restrain what critics call a pattern of indiscriminate force. The broader humanitarian crisis in Gaza, already dire before the truce, has deepened as infrastructure is destroyed and civilians are confined to increasingly narrow safe zones.