A recent report from Human Rights Watch accused Israeli authorities of intentionally forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza, calling the actions possible war crimes. In it, the organization took a look at satellite images, evacuation orders, and statements by Israeli officials to demonstrate that for the mass of the Palestinian population, the return to large areas of Gaza has become well-nigh impossible.
According to the report’s author, Nadia Hardman: “Israeli forces have destroyed much of Gaza’s water, sanitation, communications, energy and transport infrastructure as well as schools and hospitals.” The systematic destruction of orchards and fields also made large parts of the territory uninhabitable.
The report emphasizes that the Israeli forces enlarged three “buffer zones” by razing hundreds of acres of major urban areas in Gaza, including Rafah; a newly built military road, which they call the “Netzarim Corridor,” has now stretched over 4 kilometers, dividing the land further.
Israeli officials have justified the military buffer zones as a necessary measure in protecting the residents of southern Israel from the threat of attack, such as those carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter emphasized the need for a no-man’s land or “fire zone” around the Gaza Strip.
HRW views the destruction in these buffer zones as representative of the war crime of forcible transfer when it is committed intentionally. Statements by Israeli ministers in support of such actions undergird this contention.
This report follows the release of warnings from three Palestinian human rights organizations amid attempts, they said, by Israel to “empty northern Gaza” of its people. Locals still fear that leaving their homes could mean permanent displacement as Israeli authorities continue to plan and contemplate ways of resettling them.
