HRW: Israel commits 'war crime' of 'forcible transfer' of civilians

In a report published on Thursday, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) believes that the Israeli army's repeated evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip are leading to the forced displacement of the population, which amounts to a “war crime.”

“Human Rights Watch has gathered evidence that Israeli officials ... are committing the war crime of forcible transfer” of civilians, the report states. 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 claim that they are calling on the inhabitants of whole sections of territory to evacuate because of military imperatives, and are thus 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, noted Nadia Hardman, researcher at HRW. “Israel cannot simply rely on the presence of armed groups to justify the displacement of civilians,” she continued.

HRW Middle East spokesman Ahmed Benchemsi added that “systematically rendering large parts of Gaza uninhabitable” constitutes “ethnic cleansing.” In October, the U.N. 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.

'Razed, spread out, cleaned up'

According to HRW, the Israeli authorities orchestrate displacement and ensure that certain affected areas “remain permanently emptied.” The NGO's 170-page report focuses on two areas that the Israelis call the Neztarim and Philadelphia corridors. According to HRW, these have been “razed, extended and cleared” by the army to create buffer zones for security reasons. The first, which cuts the Gaza Strip from east to west, now stretches between Gaza City and the Wadi Gaza over a width of 4 km, according to the report. Almost all the buildings have been demolished, Hardman told the press. The second runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that the army must continue to control it.

“What the Israeli authorities are doing in Gaza is what one ethnic or religious group is doing to expel Palestinians, another ethnic or religious group, from areas inside Gaza by violent means,” said HRW.

The report is based on interviews with Gazans, satellite images and public data, all gathered up to August 2024. It does not take into account the Israeli offensive that has been underway in the north of the Gaza Strip for over a month, and which has forced at least 100,000 people to leave the northernmost localities for Gaza City and the surrounding area, according to Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Imam Hamad, a 41-year-old father from Beit Hanoun, one of these localities, said he has been moved more than 10 times: “Before I thought they wanted to move us, now I realize they want to kill us and wipe us out,” he told AFP on Wednesday.