GAZA, (PIC)
After failing for over 100 days of bombardment, killing, and genocide to force hundreds of thousands of people to leave the city of Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces have begun to implement a new policy of forcibly emptying the city.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor revealed that Israel has transitioned to the stage of forcibly emptying the city of Gaza of its inhabitants by force and with the use of weapons, within the framework of the ongoing crime of forced displacement and genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7th of last year.
The Euro-Med Monitor confirmed in a statement on Saturday that it has received testimonies documenting the Israeli army’s forced displacement of Palestinian families consisting of tens of individuals, mostly women and children, to the central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip after raiding their homes and shelters they resorted to on Wednesday and Thursday.
The forced displacement operations took place after the Israeli forces, reinforced with military vehicles, raided wide areas in the city of Gaza, especially the neighborhoods of Tal Al-Hawa, Duwar Ansar, and Sheikh Ajleen, and forcibly displaced the remaining families there, according to the statement.
A.G. (who preferred not to reveal his name) told the Euro-Med team that the occupying forces raided a residential building consisting of several floors, where he and his family reside near Duwar Ansar in western Gaza City. They proceeded to forcefully evacuate them all towards the central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip after detaining them for several hours, interrogating them, and assaulting some of them.
Meanwhile, Z.H. stated that he lost contact with about 25 of his relatives in the neighborhood of Tel Al-Hawa southwest of Gaza City two days ago, following a new raid by the Israeli army on the area. He received a call from one of his relatives informing him that they were forced to evacuate to Rafah, the southernmost part of the Strip.
He explained that his relatives were staying with hundreds of people in a school that had been turned into a shelter near Duwar Ansar. It was raided by Israeli forces, and everyone who remained there was immediately forced to evacuate after being threatened with death.
Other consistent testimonies have revealed that the occupying forces executed the same scenario in two other schools used as shelters in the western area of Gaza City, forcing the residents to evacuate under the sound of gunfire and artillery shells.
The Israeli army, through its Arab media spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, issued a new warning to the residents of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, ordering them to evacuate to Rafah via the Rashid-Al-Bahr street, which he claimed remains open for southward movement from the northern part of the Strip, between the hours of 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM.
Meanwhile, the occupying forces have escalated their use of starvation tactics and the prevention of humanitarian supplies to the residents of Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip. They use this as a weapon to achieve forced displacement and compel civilians to flee in an attempt to avoid death by shelling or starvation, according to the statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his rejection of allowing any aid trucks to enter without Israeli inspection and continued the policy of limiting the quantities of humanitarian supplies.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the far-right religious Zionist party, stated in a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), “I welcome the voluntary evacuation initiative of the Arabs of Gaza to the countries of the world. This is the correct humanitarian solution for the people of Gaza and the entire region after 75 years of refuge, poverty, and risks”.
The Euro-Med Monitor stated that its preliminary statistics indicate the displacement of 1,955,000 Palestinians from their residential areas, many of whom have been displaced multiple times, with families forced to move repeatedly without finding a safe shelter.
The Euro-Med Monitor mentioned that the Rafah Governorate has become the main refuge for the displaced, with more than a million people living in an extremely crowded place, following the intensified Israeli military attacks in Khan Yunis in the southern part of the Strip and Deir al-Balah in its center, as well as the repeated evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army.
Since October 12 of last year (five days after the start of continuous military attacks), the occupation forces have launched a campaign of forced displacement against approximately 1.1 million residents of Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip, forcing them to move to the central and southern parts of the Strip without any safe place to seek refuge. There are no guarantees for their future return or their security during their displacement. On the contrary, they have been directly targeted on several occasions while moving along routes that the army had previously announced as safe passages.
On the same month’s 22nd day, the Israeli army threatened the residents of Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip, stating that they would be classified as “partners in a terrorist organization” if they did not comply with the orders for forced evacuation, thus making them legitimate targets for comprehensive bombing, perpetuating the ongoing policy of genocide. This constitutes a blatant violation of the principle of distinction between civilians and combatants, and the prohibition of deliberately directing military attacks against civilian populations who are not directly participating in hostilities. Otherwise, such targeting is considered a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
With the launch of its ground incursion at the end of the same month, the occupying army escalated its horrific crimes through extrajudicial killings, executions outside the scope of the law and judiciary, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances, with the aim of forcing all remaining civilians in their residential areas to undergo forced displacement.
The Euro-Med Monitor said that Israel insists on carrying out forcible transfers of civilians in the Gaza Strip outside the scope of the law. What is even more dangerous is that it grants itself a license to target those who refuse the evacuation order by labeling them as “terrorists,” through indiscriminate bombing of homes and civilian properties or conducting field raids to forcefully displace them.
The Monitor added that civilians who refuse to evacuate, either due to the lack of alternative shelter, the presence of elderly or disabled individuals who are unable to move, or their unwillingness to leave their homes, cannot be considered legitimate targets in any way. They should be afforded full protection under the laws of war.
The Euro-Med Monitor for Human Rights stressed that the laws of war prohibit, under any pretext or justification, the deliberate targeting of civilians and consider their forcible displacement as a grave violation that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
