Eight months after a nominal ceasefire was announced in Gaza, the killing has not stopped, and the pattern of who is being killed is telling. The UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported on June 3rd that Gaza’s police force, whose role in maintaining civic order will be essential to any reconstruction, is being systematically targeted in Israeli drone and airstrikes. Officers have been killed while directing traffic, patrolling streets and overseeing crowded markets.

Since January 2026, OHCHR has recorded at least 12 attacks on police personnel, killing more than 53 people, including 35 police workers, five boys and one woman. Four attacks occurred in May alone, killing 12 officers. Among the documented incidents: on May 23rd, an Israeli strike on a police checkpoint in Gaza City killed at least five officers and two others, including a boy. On April 24th, a drone strike on a police vehicle near Khan Younis killed four officers and four civilians, including a nine-year-old.

The legal question is stark. As the occupying power, Israel is obliged under international law to maintain civic order for Palestinians under occupation. Targeting police, unless they are directly participating in hostilities, would, according to OHCHR, amount to war crimes. “The pattern of attacks raised concerns that Israeli forces apply no distinction between police personnel and fighters,” the UN office said.

Beyond the legal argument lies a practical reality. Without a functioning police force, any post-war reconstruction becomes nearly impossible. The deliberate dismantling of civilian institutions compounds the physical destruction of the enclave. More than 1.9m of Gaza’s 2.4m residents have been displaced; at least 1.2m have lost their homes.

For those still in Gaza, the ceasefire has meant little. Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, put it plainly: “Nearly eight months have passed since the announcement of a ceasefire, and there is no end in sight for the killings, the turmoil, and the misery.” His colleague Mayy El Sheikh described Gaza as “suspended in a nightmare that is difficult to reconcile with the existence of a ceasefire.”

Source: OHCHR, OCHA, June 3rd, 2026