Amman, Feb. 19 (Petra)-- The number of people killed in the Gaza Strip has increased. Concerns about the potential for "ethnic cleansing" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip due to increased Israeli assaults and the eviction of Palestinian people were raised by the UN on Thursday.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) made the following statement in a report, according to the European news agency Euronews: "the intensified attacks, the systematic destruction of entire neighborhoods, and the obstruction of humanitarian aid appear aimed at creating a permanent demographic change in Gaza."

According to the report, the increasing frequency of assaults, the systematic devastation of all areas, and the blockage of humanitarian aid point to a conscious effort to permanently alter Gaza's population, which "increases fears of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank." There are now 72,069 people dead in Gaza.

//Petra// MF

19/02/2026 23:50:56