The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has highlighted the “repeated attacks” and “routine targeting” of police officers in Gaza, noting their deaths while managing traffic, patrolling streets, and in crowded marketplaces. Mayy El Sheikh, spokesperson for the OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, stated that this “systematic targeting of key civilian institutions and their staff” has led to the collapse of civilian and public order since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, which ignited the war in Gaza.
El Sheikh emphasized that under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to maintain civilian and public order for the Palestinians living under occupation. “Targeting them will constitute a war crime, if they are not directly participating in attacks or hostilities,” she said.
The OHCHR reported at least 12 attacks on police since January 2026, resulting in the deaths of over 35 civilians, including 53 police officers, 5 children, and 1 woman. In May alone, four attacks were recorded, killing 12 police personnel. The UN office expressed concern that the pattern of attacks suggests Israeli forces are “not distinguishing between combatants of armed groups and police personnel” in Gaza.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, commented, “Nearly eight months have passed since the ceasefire announcement, and there is no end in sight to the killing, chaos, and misery.”
Alleged incidents include:
- May 23 – At least five police officers and two others, including a child, were killed in an Israeli attack on a police checkpoint in El Tawam, Gaza City.
- April 24, 2026 – Four police personnel and four civilians, including a nine-year-old child, were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a police vehicle in El Mawasi camp, west of Khan Yunis.
- January 31, 2026 – An Israeli airstrike on the Ash Sheikh Radwan Police Station in Gaza City resulted in the deaths of 11 people, including five police officers and a child.
This warning comes amid the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. According to OCHA, the UN’s humanitarian coordination office, over 1.9 million of the region’s 2.4 million Palestinians have been displaced due to the war, with many forced to flee their homes multiple times. At least 1.2 million have lost their homes.
For many, a hypothetical ceasefire between Hamas fighters and the Israeli army has not brought security. El Sheikh of OHCHR told UN News that evacuation orders continue and “Israeli forces are continuing to destroy whatever is left in Gaza.” She added, “Gaza remains suspended in a nightmare that is difficult to reconcile with the existence of a ceasefire. Palestinians in Gaza are living on a small portion of the land and are surrounded on all sides by Israeli ground forces, who are increasingly entering Palestinian communities and shrinking the area allocated to civilians.”
