Human Rights Watch: Israel commits war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Gaza

Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today, Thursday, that the Israeli authorities committed a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip that amount to ethnic cleansing.

The international organization confirmed that Palestinian civilians in Gaza are suffering from continuous shelling targeting their homes and shelters, while they are unable to flee or obtain protection, noting that mothers, infants, the elderly and the disabled have become victims of this indiscriminate attack, as many of them lost their lives as a result of the violent shelling.

She pointed out that the Israeli occupation uses siege and starvation as tools of war, which increases the suffering of the civilian population, especially children who die due to lack of food and medical aid.

In addition, the organization's report confirmed that the Israeli authorities are preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the besieged areas in Gaza, which puts the lives of thousands at risk, noting that it has caused the mass and deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza since October 2023, and is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The 154-page report, “Desperate, Hungry, and Trapped,” examines Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, and the behavior of Israeli authorities that has led to the displacement of more than 90 percent of Gaza’s population – 1.9 million Palestinians – and the widespread destruction of large parts of Gaza over the past 13 months.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 39 displaced Palestinians in Gaza, analyzed Israel’s evacuation regime, including 184 evacuation orders and satellite imagery confirming widespread destruction, and verified videos and photographs of attacks on designated safe areas and evacuation routes.

According to the report, evacuation orders were inconsistent and imprecise, and civilians were often not notified in sufficient time to allow for evacuations or not at all. The orders did not take into account the needs of people with disabilities and others who could not leave without assistance.

As the occupying power, Israel is obligated to ensure adequate facilities for sheltering displaced civilians, but the authorities have prevented all but a small portion of essential humanitarian aid, water, electricity and fuel from reaching civilians in need in Gaza.

Israeli attacks have damaged and destroyed resources people need to survive, including hospitals, schools, water and energy infrastructure, bakeries and agricultural land.

#Israel has caused the mass and deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in #Gaza since October 2023, and is responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

New report by @hrw_ar : https://t.co/OuqvhDWTsO pic.twitter.com/BXpHfynHCw

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw_ar) November 14, 2024

The report confirmed that the Israeli army deliberately destroyed or severely damaged civilian infrastructure, including systematic home demolitions, with the supposed aim of creating a “buffer zone” extending along the Gaza border with Israel and a corridor dividing Gaza, noting that this massive destruction indicates an intention to permanently displace many residents.

From the first days of the war on Gaza, senior officials in the Israeli government and the War Cabinet announced their intention to displace the Palestinian population in Gaza, with government ministers stating that the territory of the Strip would shrink, that blowing up and completely destroying Gaza would be “a wonderful thing,” and that the land would be given to settlers. In November 2023, Israeli Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter said: “We are now implementing the Gaza Nakba.”

The New York-based Human Rights Watch found that the forced displacement was widespread, and evidence suggests that it was systematic and part of state policy. These acts also constitute crimes against humanity.

The systematic and violent displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, a distinct ethnic group, by the Israeli authorities is likely to be planned to be permanent in the buffer zones and security corridors. These actions by the Israeli authorities amount to ethnic cleansing.

The report pointed out that the Palestinians in Gaza have been under an illegal blockade for 17 years, which is part of the ongoing crimes against humanity, represented by apartheid and persecution, committed by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinians.

He called on world governments to publicly condemn Israel's forced displacement of civilians in Gaza as a war crime and a crime against humanity, and to pressure Israel to immediately stop these crimes and comply with the multiple binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice and the obligations stipulated in its advisory opinion issued in July.

The report called for it to adopt targeted sanctions and other measures, including reviewing its bilateral agreements with Israel, to pressure the Israeli government to comply with its international obligations to protect civilians.

The report called on the ICC Prosecutor to investigate Israel’s displacement of Palestinians and preventing them from exercising their right of return as a crime against humanity. Governments should also publicly condemn efforts to intimidate and interfere with the work of the court’s officials and collaborators.

The report stressed the need for the United States, Germany and other countries to immediately suspend arms transfers and military aid to Israel, stressing that continuing to supply Israel with weapons exposes it to the risk of complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations.

“No one can deny the horrific crimes committed by the Israeli military against Palestinians in Gaza,” Hardman said. “The transfer of more weapons and aid to Israel by the US, Germany and others amounts to a carte blanche to commit more atrocities, and increasingly puts them at risk of complicity in their commission.”

The report also called on the occupying Israeli state to stop forced displacement, comply with the decisions of the International Court of Justice, lift the siege, open the crossings, restore basic services, and compensate the victims. It also called on Egypt to open the Rafah crossing and ensure access to basic services for Palestinians fleeing Gaza, including health care and education, in addition to facilitating the movement of Palestinians who have legal ways to immigrate to other countries and providing them with the necessary support in this regard.

We strongly support the actions of the International Court of Justice.

For his part, Ahmed Benchemsi, the director of communications and advocacy for the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, said in response to a question from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed about the report’s avoidance of describing the crimes in Gaza as “genocide,” that “this report does not apply the Genocide Convention to violations related to displacement, but rather applies Article 49 of the Geneva Convention and exposes and discredits Israel’s claim that it is carrying out safe evacuations in accordance with the laws of war.”

“This does not mean that the framework of the law of genocide does not or will not apply, it just means that this particular report focuses on how the actions violate Article 49, and how they amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity of forced displacement,” he continued.

“The case brought by South Africa provides an important opportunity for the ICJ to provide clear and specific answers to the question of whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” Benchemsi added. “For our part, we strongly support the ICJ’s proceedings and believe that the severity and gravity of the Israeli violations committed in Gaza warrant scrutiny by the highest judicial body in the United Nations.”

“Of course, we are aware of other assessments that the situation in Gaza amounts to genocide, and we respect the human rights and international bodies that have made these assessments, which we consider part of the global human rights movement and the concerted efforts to push for justice and accountability. As for us, we continue every day to closely examine the situation on the ground, especially recently,” he continued.

“We are still searching, and we will continue to search. As for our work, our rule is that we do not disclose details of our ongoing research or future publications. Our field research and legal analyses are arduous and time-consuming, and our credibility is built on our commitment to the rigor and accuracy of our research and analyses, no matter how long it takes to complete them, and without yielding to any pressure from any external party, whether those who push us to downplay Israel’s crimes, or those who push us to escalate rhetoric in anticipation of the results of our ongoing work.”

“We have been monitoring and documenting Israeli violations in the occupied Palestinian territories for decades, through thousands of reports, statements, videos and press interviews. We are the first international organization to conclude that Israel is committing apartheid and persecution against Palestinians, which are crimes against humanity under international law,” he said.

“We also found that the Israeli military and authorities are responsible for massive war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, as well as the West Bank and Lebanon. We called for an end to arms sales to Israel and warned all states that continue such sales against complicity in Israel’s crimes. We also called for sanctions on Israeli officials and for strong support for investigations by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, including the genocide case, despite all the pressure being exerted on these two international bodies.”

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed