Israel’s ‘massive’ forced evacuation of Gaza amounts to war crime: new report
A new Human Rights Watch report says the “massive” and “deliberate” expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza by Israeli forces amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report, published on Thursday, comes as Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza say Israeli forces have destroyed their neighborhoods for more than a month.
“The Israeli government cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it is killing them in refugee camps, blowing up supposedly safe areas and cutting off food, water and sanitation,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW). ).
“Israel has clearly violated its obligation to ensure that the Palestinian people can return to their homes, destroying everything in large areas.”
The report found that the behavior of the Israeli authorities has led to the displacement of approximately 1.9 million Palestinians, more than 90 percent of the population of Gaza, and the destruction of a large part of Gaza in the past 13 months.
Forced evictions throughout the Gaza Strip are “widespread, and evidence shows that they were systematic and part of state policy,” the report found.
“Such actions are also crimes against humanity,” it said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military or the foreign ministry, but Israeli authorities have previously denied such allegations and said their forces operate in accordance with international law.
The 154-page report is the latest in a series from aid groups and international organizations warning of the dire humanitarian situation in the war-torn region.
“Israeli forces have deliberately demolished homes and civilian infrastructure, including in areas where they have the express intention of creating ‘safe zones’ and security ‘corridors’, from which Palestinians may be permanently displaced,” the report said. .
Adam Coogle, HRW’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa division, said the forced displacement of Palestinians and the destruction of certain areas in Gaza amounted to “ethnic cleansing.”
Coogle said the organization calls on governments to condemn forced evictions and crimes against humanity, adopt targeted sanctions and other measures and halt arms sales to Israel.
“We believe that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court should investigate the expulsion of people from Gaza,” he said.
Exit instructions are ‘inconsistent’ and ‘inaccurate’: report
The report said evacuation orders were “inconsistent, imprecise and rarely communicated to residents with sufficient time to allow for evacuation, if at all,” adding that the orders did not take into account the needs of people with disabilities.
The law of armed conflict prohibits the forcible removal of civilians from a residential area, unless necessary to protect civilians or essential military reasons.
In the past month, the Israeli army has evacuated tens of thousands of people from areas north of the Enclave as it seeks to destroy Hamas militants who say the army has been carrying out reforms in the towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun.
The latest images posted on X by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) show hundreds of displaced civilians lined up together, carrying their small belongings and leaving the Jabalia refugee camp, under the orders of the IDF. Hear from two people who spoke to a CBC News freelance reporter in Gaza about what it was like to be displaced.
Israel invaded the Gaza Strip last year after an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed an estimated 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities, and took more than 250 hostages. There are approximately 100 hostages remaining in Gaza.
The Israeli campaign has killed more than 43,500 people, according to health authorities in Gaza, and destroyed the infrastructure of the enclave, forcing most of the 2.3 million people to move several times. Palestinian emergency officials estimate that the bodies of 10,000 people may be trapped under the rubble, bringing the death toll to more than 50,000.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Office said that nearly 70 percent of the deaths it confirmed in the first six months of the Gaza war were women and children.
Human Rights Watch said it interviewed 39 Palestinians in Gaza and analyzed Israel’s evacuation plan, including 184 evacuation orders and satellite images confirming widespread destruction, as well as verified videos and photos of attacks on designated safe areas and exit routes.
The Israeli army has denied that it wants to create permanent safe zones, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that Palestinians who left their homes in northern Gaza would be allowed to return at the end of the war.
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