Today, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report titled, “‘Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged’: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza”, which examines Israel’s constant evacuation orders against Palestinians in Gaza. More than 90% of the residents of Gaza, about 1.9 million people, have been displaced—many on multiple occasions. HRW has collected evidence which they claim shows “a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a crime under the Rome statue of the International Criminal Court”. According to the report the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of civilians is a policy that amounts to crimes against humanity and war crimes. The HRW authors are demanding the International Criminal Court investigate Israel’s displacement policy, and force implementation of sanctions against Israel, including banning of weapon shipments to Israel’s military.
A researcher at HRW wrote: “The Israeli government cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cuts off food, water, and sanitation. Israel has blatantly violated its obligation to ensure Palestinians can return home, razing virtually everything in large areas.” According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the displacement is not short-term; rather, the Israel Defense Forces has accelerated the demolition of buildings and the creation of new infrastructure to support a prolonged military presence. That is leading to speculation that Israel’s intends to cut Gaza in two, in which the north may become a buffer zone. There are estimates that several thousand civilians are still in northern Gaza, and they are being forced to move south through a single military checkpoint in which men are held for questioning, and women and children are required to continue south from Gaza City.
The HRW report details the UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which states that all parties to a conflict must “prevent and avoid conditions that might lead to displacement of persons.” The report also includes sections of the Fourth Geneva Convention which itemize possible exceptions for displacement such as for the safety of the population or for imperative military reasons, but this always requires safeguards and proper accommodations for the civilians.
