GAZA, (PIC)
Amnesty International has urged a war crimes probe into Israel razing homes and farms in eastern Gaza to expand a buffer zone between it and the war-battered territory.
“Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighborhoods, including homes, schools and mosques,” Amnesty said in a report on Thursday.
The London-based rights group said the leveling since the start of the war on October 7 “should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”
An Amnesty investigation, which examined satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers between October and May, showed “newly cleared land along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from approximately 1 to 1.8 km wide,” the group said.
The expanded buffer zone covers around 58 square kilometers, or about 16 percent of the Gaza Strip, it said.
More than 90 percent of buildings within that zone appeared to have been destroyed or severely damaged, it said.
More than half of the agricultural land in the area showed “a decline in health and density of crops due to the ongoing conflict,” it added.
“Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of the entire area,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, said.
“The homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area,” she added.
“Israel’s measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law, including the prohibition of wanton destruction and of collective punishment,” she underlined.
