Israel committed war crimes, ‘forced displacement’ in Gaza, says a new report

WASHINGTON — Israel has carried out a “massive, deliberate forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza” that amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The Report of 154 pages‘Hopeless, Starving and Besieged’ examined Israel’s behavior since the outbreak of war in Gaza last October. government implemented “widespread and systematic” forced displacement. Israel’s actions “meet the definition of ethnic cleansing,” the authors wrote.

The report urged all governments to stop military aid and arms sales to Israel and punishing Israeli officials involved in war crimes.

War broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking hundreds hostage, as well as committing multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the report. In response, Israel launched a crushing attack in the Gaza Strip, which local authorities say has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians.

According to the United Nations, about 1.9 million Palestinians, about 90% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced. According to the report, statements by senior Israeli officials indicate that their displacement was forced and intentional.

The report’s authors interviewed 39 displaced Palestinians and analyzed Israel’s evacuation system, photographs and video footage of Israeli attacks on designated safe zones, and satellite images of the destruction in Gaza.

International humanitarian law prohibits parties to a conflict the deportation or forcible transportation of citizenswhich classifies it as a war crime unless necessary to protect civilians.

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Israel claims it is protecting civilians and must expel them to battle Hamas, which is embedded there among the civilian population and manages much of the enclave’s public services. These claims, the report found, are “largely false.”

Israel’s evacuation system “failed to keep people safe and instead often served only to sow fear and anxiety,” the report’s authors wrote. Israel repeatedly attacked evacuation zones and issued “inconsistent, inaccurate” evacuation orders that did not give residents enough time to leave.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the report, multiple news agencies reported.

The widespread destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and Israel’s demarcation of “permanent buffer zones” on the border are likely to make the return of many displaced civilians to their homes impossible, the report said.

The release of the report came after the US said Israel had not subsequently blocked access to Gaza gave Israel a deadline of thirty days to increase the flow of aid.

But eight internationally according to aid organizations Israel had failed to fulfill its obligations.

The US said Israel must allow at least 350 trucks into Gaza every day – aid groups said an average of 42 trucks entered Gaza every day. More than half of humanitarian workers’ requests to the Israeli military for equipment and personnel moves were rejected last month, they said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday that Israel has “achieved the goals it set for itself” in Gaza and called for “real and sustained pauses” in the fighting.

“This should be the time to end the war,” he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, the report said