This is an unfolding situation. We describe what has been documented, by whom and when.

Palestine: displacement and the Gaza war

1948 onwards; Gaza war since October 2023

UN and human rights reporting documented destruction of education, famine, surveillance, detention and deaths of journalists during the Gaza war and occupation.

The pressures

2023–present (Gaza war). The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza (16 September 2025); Israel rejects the finding.

Pushed out

The International Court of Justice addressed the legal consequences of Israel's occupation in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024. This is distinct from the pending South Africa v. Israel genocide case.

International Court of Justice, Advisory Opinion, case 186 (19 July 2024).

Written out

The UN Commission of Inquiry reported more than 57 university buildings completely destroyed by 25 March 2025. It reported fire damage to Gaza City's Central Archives on 29 November 2023 and said the interior was likely set ablaze; Israeli forces had not acknowledged targeting the archives.

UN Commission of Inquiry, A/HRC/59/26 (6 May 2025), paras 9, 47 and 76; UN Special Procedures (18 April 2024).

Squeezed out

A joint FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO release reported famine in Gaza Governorate on 22 August 2025. Israel called the assessment false and biased, according to Reuters.

Joint UN agency release (22 August 2025); Reuters via TimesLIVE (22 August 2025).

Worn down

Amnesty documented facial recognition systems in Hebron and East Jerusalem and characterised their use as apartheid. The Israeli military told the New York Times it could not refer to operational and intelligence capabilities.

Amnesty International, Automated Apartheid, MDE 15/6701/2023 (2 May 2023); Times of Israel (2 May 2023).

Silenced

A joint prisoner organisations' statement reported more than 9,500 Palestinians held in early April 2024, including more than 3,660 administrative detainees. B'Tselem's Israel Prison Service data recorded 3,662 administrative detainees on 31 March 2024. CPJ recorded at least 189 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Gaza as of 24 September 2026; its figures were preliminary.

Addameer joint statement reported by Middle East Monitor and Al-Quds (16 April 2024); B'Tselem/IPS statistics; CPJ (updated 30 September 2026).

What people are doing

  • In January 2021 activists and agriculture ministry staff replanted about 500 trees near Khirbet Einoun after the Israeli army uprooted trees there. The army described the removal as action against an illegal agricultural invasion in a fire zone (The New Arab, 28 January 2021).
  • YMCA East Jerusalem and YWCA Palestine ran the Keep Hope Alive olive tree planting campaign in Area C (Global Ministries partner page, modified 19 October 2024).

How to help, safely

How to help safely: give through established humanitarian organisations already working there, and check their registration (in the UK, on the Charity Commission register). Share information only from named, verified sources. Never share photos, names or locations that could identify people on the ground.

Sources

Sources checked in the supplied brief on 25 October 2026. The 16 September 2025 UN Commission genocide finding was rejected by Israel's foreign ministry as distorted and false (AFP, same date). It is not a final judgment in South Africa v. Israel. Unidentified OCHA totals, the 5.9 million refugee figure and the cumulative imprisonment figure are withheld.