HRW accuses Israel of ‘war crime’ with ‘forcible transfer’ in Gaza

Human Rights Watch said in a report released today that Israel’s repeated evacuation orders in Gaza amount to the “war crime of forcible transfer,” and to “ethnic cleansing” in parts of the Palestinian territory.

“Human Rights Watch has amassed evidence that Israeli officials are… committing the war crime of forcible transfer,” the report says.

“Israel’s actions appear to also meet the definition of ethnic cleansing” in the areas where Palestinians will not be able to return, HRW adds.

The 172-page report’s findings are based on interviews with displaced Gazans, satellite imagery, and public reporting conducted until August 2024.

Although Israel says the displacement is justified for civilians’ safety or by military imperatives, the report claims that “Israel cannot simply rely on the presence of armed groups to justify the displacement of civilians.”

“Israel would have to demonstrate in every instance that displacement of civilians was the only option,” to fully comply with international humanitarian law.

“Systematically rendering large parts of Gaza uninhabitable… in some cases permanently… amounts to ethnic cleansing,” Ahmed Benchemsi, spokesman for HRW’s Middle East division said in a press briefing.

The HRW report pointed in particular to the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors, running along the Egyptian border and cutting Gaza along its east-west axis respectively, which have been “razed, extended, and cleared,” by Israel’s army to create buffer zones and security corridors.

The report says Israeli forces have turned the central Netzarim corridor, between Gaza City and Wadi Gaza, into a buffer zone four kilometers (2.5 miles) wide mostly cleared of buildings.

Israel went into Gaza after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre to destroy the terror group and try and free the 251 hostages.  Israel denies violating international law and has repeatedly called on civilians to evacuate to humanitarian zones as it battles Hamas, which is deeply imbedded in civilians infrastructures and in a series of tunnel complexes under residential areas.