UN rights office warns Gaza displacement crisis is worsening as living space shrinks

GAZA — The United Nations human rights office warned on Friday, 30 October 2026, that the displacement crisis in the Gaza Strip is getting worse. According to Republika, an Indonesian news outlet, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Israeli forces are steadily shrinking the living space of Palestinians by pushing them into ever smaller areas.

The OHCHR said the pattern has raised serious concern about the possibility of ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip. According to Republika, the office also said the continuing loss of space has created a displacement crisis that is both more acute and prolonged.

The OHCHR's statement was reported in Republika, which is the only source for this report. The report describes the statement as citing the head of the OHCHR's office for the occupied Palestinian territory, Ajith Sunghay. Republika quoted him as saying the displacement crisis in Gaza is "acute and chronic at the same time." Sunghay said Palestinians who were forced to leave their homes face very little chance of returning. He added that people have been forced to move again and again.

Why it matters

According to Republika, most of the areas that people fled are now out of reach. They lie beyond what is known as the Yellow Line, a demarcation line in Gaza. Sunghay said people who left before a ceasefire announcement have almost no prospect of going home.

Republika also reported that the OHCHR documented attacks on displacement camps in Al Shujaiyeh, a neighbourhood in Gaza City. According to the report, Israeli forces used explosive robots to destroy buildings still standing in the area. On 25 October, an Israeli drone reportedly dropped ammunition on tents sheltering displaced families at the Al Shujaiyeh crossing, near the Yellow Line. According to Republika, the strike started a fire that burned for five hours.

Background

According to Republika, the OHCHR said that over the past two weeks Israeli forces expanded their military deployment westward in several areas. The office named Al Shujaiyeh in Gaza City and three locations in central Gaza: the eastern part of Al Bureij, the eastern part of Deir al-Balah, and the eastern part of Al Maghazi.

Republika's report also carried a photograph caption, credited to AFP, showing Palestinians searching the rubble of homes destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp on 30 October 2026.

What is not confirmed

The report does not give figures for the number of people displaced, the number of people killed or injured, or the total area that is now inaccessible. It also does not include a response from the Israeli government or the Israeli military. The report does not say whether any further OHCHR statement or meeting is planned.

Because this report relies on a single source, the claims above have not been checked against other reporting or against OHCHR's own published statement.