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(https://news.un.org/en/content/un-newsletter-subscribe) (Subscribe) Subscribe                   (A man in a green shirt sits on a large yellow concrete barrier marked with the Hebrew word 'yellow' and a black symbol on a street in Gaza, while another man stands nearby. The scene is surrounded by rubble, destroyed buildings, a burned car on the left, and an intact silver sedan on the right.)     ‘Where do we go?’: How Israel’s ‘yellow line’ is closing in on Palestinians      UN News A child sitting on one of the cement blocks that form Israel's "yellow line" in Gaza City.            (https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168320) (Share this via Facebook) Facebook (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=‘Where do we go?’: How Israel’s ‘yellow line’ is closing in on Palestinians &url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168320) (Share this via Twitter) Twitter (1168320.html) (Share this via Print) Print (mailto:?subject=‘Where do we go?’: How Israel’s ‘yellow line’ is closing in on Palestinians &body=https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168320) (Share this via Email) Email    ‘Where do we go?’: How Israel’s ‘yellow line’ is closing in on Palestinians     12 September 2026   (https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/peace-and-security) Peace and Security   Ola Ishtiwi sits with her children in front of the remains of her home in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, a few metres away from a series of painted cement blocks Israel has placed to mark what has become known as the “yellow line”.               Initially set up following the announcement of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement of October 2025, the “yellow line” splits Gaza into two sections: most of the Palestinian population is confined in the western zone, while the eastern zone is under Israeli military control.  At first, the “yellow line” left roughly 47 per cent of the Strip for the Palestinian population, but Israeli forces have gradually pushed the line inwards, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ((https://www.unocha.org/) OCHA ).  Palestinians currently live in less than 40 per cent of Gaza’s land area, the UN said. But, in many cases, this push by Israeli forces has led to the displacement of families living close to the line. Displaced, again and again  For Ibtisam Malika, a resident of the Zeitoun neighbourhood near the line, the result is a recurring cycle of displacement, return and then displacement again. “Every two to three months, we are forced to move and leave our belongings behind,” she said. “We can’t take it anymore. We lost half of our children in the war, and only remnants of us remain.” Nowhere else to go  Some 2.1 million people – almost the entire population of the Strip – are currently displaced and living within the limits of the “yellow line”, according to the UN.  Many live near the painted yellow blocks, with residents saying they have continued to live in these neighbourhoods – notably Al-Tuffah and Al Zaytoun neighbourhoods in eastern Gaza City – because they have nowhere else to go.  Families there are constantly on high alert, fearing that they may have to abandon their property and quickly flee if the security situation changes. Safaa Mushtaha, an Al-Tuffah resident, said that asking where the family could move to has become part of their daily lives. “‘Where do we go?’ This is a question we’ve been asking ourselves for three years,” she said. “We accepted living near the yellow line, but it’s become unbearable.”  (A Palestinian family, including a woman in a headscarf and four children holding a pink teddy bear, sits on concrete slabs amid rubble outside a damaged building in Gaza. A man stands in the doorway behind them as destroyed structures stretch into the background.)    UN News Ola Ishtiwi sitting with her family in front of the destroyed building where they are sheltering.   Dire humanitarian needs   The United Nations said finding safer sites to establish camps for displaced people has become more difficult because much of the suitable land lies within prohibited or restricted areas east, south and north of the “yellow line” and beyond. Some 1.98 million people, or 94 per cent of Gaza’s population, need assistance related to shelter and non-food items, according to the latest shelter assessment published by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Also, 84 per cent of families also live in extremely difficult conditions, including shelters or tents that do not provide adequate protection from the weather. ‘This is not life’  For Ms. Ishtiwi, daily life has become very difficult living near the yellow line.  “We don’t know what to do or where to go,” she told UN News . “We don’t have a tent, and we don’t have money.” Ahmed Arhim, from the Zeitoun neighbourhood, said the sounds of gunfire and drones make it difficult to sleep, especially for children. “We don’t sleep every night,” he said. “The children can’t sleep. They are scared and they wet themselves. Many residents have already left. We are displaced every day, always displaced. This is not life.” (A yellow barrier sits amid extensive rubble and collapsed concrete in Gaza.)    UN News A cement block marks the "yellow line" amid destroyed buildings in Gaza City.    ‘The bloodshed in Gaza must stop’  These testimonies come at a time when UN agencies are reporting continued Israeli military operations and strikes in Gaza despite the ceasefire declared last year. Local authorities have reported 1,334 deaths and 4,429 injuries since the ceasefire’s announcement on 10 October 2025, according to OCHA’s latest (https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-report-4-september-2026) humanitarian update .  “The bloodshed in Gaza must stop,” the UN Human Rights Office said in a (https://palestine.un.org/en/322139-office-united-nations-high-commissioner-human-rights-bloodshed-gaza-must-stop) recent statement , noting that over a five-day period in late August, 24 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks, including four children and a woman, and that 21 of them were killed in air raids.                     ♦ Receive daily updates directly in your inbox - (https://news.un.org/en/content/un-newsletter-subscribe?utm_source=UN News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=un_news_newsletter) Subscribe here  to a topic. ♦ Download the UN News app for your (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/un-news-reader/id496893005?mt=8) iOS  or (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.un.mobile.news&hl=en) Android  devices.     (https://news.un.org/en/tags/gaza) Gaza              Related Stories  (https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1149456)   (Displaced persons leave Rafah towards central Gaza.)      (https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1149456) Journey into the unknown: Thousands of Gazan families flee Rafah    (https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1163911)   (White tents of displaced Palestinians are set up near the Gaza seaport, with rubble and debris in the foreground.)      (https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1163911) Helpless in the face of hunger: Gaza families pray for deliverance – or death    (https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158541)   (A collection of religious items, including icons and holy water, is displayed on a red cloth-covered table, with a white tent wall in the background.)      (https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158541) In Gaza, a Christmas without a tree              News Tracker: Past Stories on This Issue  (https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168291)   (A Palestinian woman and a young girl eat food aid from bowls inside a makeshift shelter in a camp in Gaza.)      (https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/09/1168291) In Gaza, women-headed households face ‘impossible choices’ to survive    8 September 2026   (https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/women) Women   In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.      (https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168229)   (A Palestinian child walks barefoot carrying a homemade kite through the rubble of Al-Rimal in Gaza City, with a tent camp in the background.)      (https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168229) Four children killed as separate attacks in Gaza destroy aid supplies   28 August 2026   (https://news.un.org/en/news/topic/peace-and-security) Peace and Security   Israeli attacks killed four children and destroyed humanitarian aid supplies in what turned out to be a deadly week in war-ravaged Gaza, the UN emergency relief agency, OCHA, said on Friday.             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