Human Rights Watch (HRW) estime in a report released Thursday that the Israeli army’s repeated evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip lead to forced population displacements. This practice constitutes a “war crime”, according to the NGO.
According to HRW, Israel’s “actions also appear to meet the definition of ethnic cleansing” in areas where the army has ordered Palestinians to leave and where they will not be able to return.
The Israeli authorities say they are calling on the inhabitants of entire sections of the territory to evacuate due to military imperatives and thus say they are participating in the protection of civilians. “Israel should demonstrate in each case that the displacement of civilians is the only possible option” to comply with international humanitarian law, notes Nadia Hardman, researcher at HRW.
1.9 million Gazans displaced
“Israel cannot simply rely on the presence of armed groups to justify the displacement of civilians,” she continues. HRW’s Middle East spokesperson adds that “systematically rendering large parts of Gaza uninhabitable” constitutes “ethnic cleansing.”
In October, the UN put the number of Gazans displaced by the war at 1.9 million. The total population was estimated at some 2.4 million at the start of the war.
Two zones
According to HRW, Israeli authorities are orchestrating the movements and ensuring that some affected areas “remain permanently emptied.” The NGO’s 170-page report focuses on two areas that Israelis call the Neztarim and Philadelphia corridors. They were, according to HRW, “razed, extended and cleaned” by the army to create buffer zones for security reasons.
The first, which cuts the Gaza Strip from east to west, now extends between Gaza City and Wadi Gaza over 4 km wide, according to the report. Almost the entire building was demolished, the spokesperson said. The second runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the army must continue to control it.
The report draws on interviews with Gazans, satellite images and public data, all collected through August 2024.
