UN calls for action as Israel's breaches threaten ceasefire

United Nations experts are urging all states to stop Israel's continued violations of a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza after noting almost 400 breaches that have left more than 300 Palestinians dead since last month.

The experts consist of 20 UN special rapporteurs and working groups, such as Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

In a release published on Monday, the experts said Israel had committed at least 393 violations, killing 339 Palestinians, including more than 70 children, and injuring 871 others since the ceasefire was announced last month. The Oct 28 airstrikes — with at least 104 Palestinians killed — marked the deadliest single night, they said.

Attacks continued to be reported across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip despite the "ceasefire", with reports of gunfire, artillery shelling and airstrikes, they said.

"The ongoing Israeli attacks against the Palestinian population in Gaza constitute a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement," they said, urging the international community to step up pressure to make the ceasefire effective and save lives.

Humanitarian access to the enclave remains critically restricted, with only two of six crossings being reopened. "The volume of aid trucks entering Gaza has never reached the agreed target of 600 per day and has frequently fallen below half that number," the UN experts said.

"We warned that so-called peace initiatives allowing one side to retain militarized control over Gaza would not end occupation but entrench it. Sadly, this is unfolding before our eyes."

More than 58 percent of Gaza reportedly remains under Israeli military control, with 40 active Israeli sites still operating beyond the agreed withdrawal line, "in clear breach of the ceasefire terms", they said.

Top priority

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, said on Monday that achieving a lasting ceasefire in Gaza is a top priority.

China welcomes the agreement on the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, but peace is still far from being achieved, and the suffering of civilians continues, Fu said at a UN Security Council meeting on "The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question" in New York.

"China urges all relevant parties, Israel in particular, to fully honor the ceasefire agreement and work toward a truly comprehensive and lasting peace," he said.

"China urges Israel to fully comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law, open all crossing points, lift restrictions on humanitarian access, and ensure that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and other humanitarian agencies can carry out their relief operations."

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X on Monday that in recent weeks, its troops have been operating in the Rafah area in a concentrated effort "to dismantle remaining terror tunnels and eliminate the terrorists hiding within them, while simultaneously dismantling above-ground terrorist infrastructure".

More than 60 terror targets had been struck, including 15 tunnel shafts and 40 structures, it said. Soldiers also reportedly found a Hamas flag, firearms, rifles and explosive devices, among others, it added.

Muslim Imran, director of the Asia Middle East Center for Research and Dialogue in Malaysia, said it is "very clear" that Israel "is not interested" in the ceasefire.

Since the truce deal was reached, Israeli captives have been released, but Israel's violations and aggression against Palestinians continue, Imran said.

He also cited the situations in Syria and Lebanon, where Israel had signed ceasefire agreements, "but continues to violate" them.