Israeli Forces, Settlers Kill 122 Palestinians Across Gaza and West Bank in April
At least 122 Palestinians, including 22 children and eight women, were killed by Israeli forces and settlers across the occupied Palestinian territories during April, according to a monthly bulletin released by the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OHCHR OPT). The report documents Israeli attacks on Palestinian homes, shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs), places of worship, streets, vehicles, humanitarian sites and schools, highlighting what it describes as continuing grave violations across Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The fatalities included at least two journalists and six police personnel, while many others across age groups were injured. According to the report, at least 111 Palestinians, including 18 children and seven women, were killed in Israeli military attacks across Gaza during April amid sustained airstrikes, artillery and naval shelling, drone attacks and gunfire. Among the incidents documented: On April 8, Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Al Wishah was killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting his car near Al Nabulsi Junction in Gaza City. OHCHR said his death brings the number of journalists killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023 to 295.
On April 11, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire in Jabalia Camp, killing a 10-year-old boy. On April 22, an Israeli drone strike near Al Qassam Mosque in Beit Lahiya killed five Palestinians, including three boys aged between 9 and 14. On April 24, shelling near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya killed a woman and her two children. On April 25, a drone strike on a tent used as a phone charging station in Gaza City killed two men. By the end of April, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that 824 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli military attacks in Gaza since the announcement of a ceasefire agreement.
The UN rights office also raised concern over increasing attacks on law enforcement personnel in Gaza. On April 24, an Israeli drone strike in Al Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, reportedly hit a vehicle carrying police personnel inside an IDP encampment, killing eight people, including four police officers and four displaced civilians. OHCHR noted that since the beginning of 2026, it has recorded six Israeli attacks that killed 26 police personnel in Gaza. It said police officers are civilians unless directly participating in hostilities, and targeting them would violate international humanitarian law.
Humanitarian workers also continued to come under attack. Among the incidents documented: A WHO-contracted driver was killed in Khan Younis on April 6 while transporting WHO staff for medical evacuation operations. Two UNICEF contractors were killed in an April 17 drone strike at a water distribution point in eastern Gaza City. An April 20 strike on NGO workers at a water well in Gaza City killed one person and injured four others. According to OCHA, at least 593 aid workers have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023.
In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli security forces killed at least six Palestinians in April, including one woman and four children, during raids across Palestinian communities. Among them was Sabriya Amin Shamasneh, a 68-year-old woman who reportedly died following assault by Israeli forces during a raid on her home in Jiyus on April 7. On April 16, Israeli forces shot and killed 17-year-old Mohammad Murad Mahmoud Rayyan during a raid in Beit Duqqu, while allegedly preventing an ambulance from reaching him.
The report also documented intensifying settler violence, which killed at least four Palestinians during April. In one incident on April 21 in Al Mughayyir, an Israeli settler reportedly shot dead 14-year-old Aws An Na’san and 32-year-old Jihad Abu Na’em near a school. OHCHR said at least nine Palestinians have been killed in 2026 by settlers later identified as Israeli military reservists, reflecting what it described as the growing militarisation of the settler movement.
The report also detailed demolitions and forced displacement in East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. In Al Bustan, Silwan, Israeli authorities demolished or compelled the demolition of at least 11 Palestinian homes and structures during April, displacing at least 36 Palestinians to make way for the “King’s Garden” settler park. Settler violence has displaced nearly 2,000 Palestinians from 43 communities across the occupied West Bank so far in 2026, including around 900 children, according to OCHA.
OHCHR further documented restrictions and attacks targeting religious sites and worshippers during April. These included detentions at Al Aqsa Mosque compound, restrictions on Christian worshippers attempting to access the Church of the Holy Sepulcher during Holy Saturday celebrations, and the reported assault of a French nun by an Israeli settler in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 28. The UN rights office said the incidents reflect worsening conditions across the occupied Palestinian territories, with ongoing violence, displacement and restrictions continuing to affect Palestinian civilians.