UN rights chief claims IDF evacuation orders in northern Gaza may be ‘war crime’
Volker Turk says directives could constitute ‘forcible transfer’ of civilians if not done for strictly military purposes; IDF says dozens of terror operatives killed Thursday
UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Thursday warned Israel that any “large-scale forcible transfer” of civilians out of conflict-wracked northern Gaza could constitute a war crime if not done on “imperative military grounds.”
“Israel’s evacuation orders appear designed to cut off North Gaza completely from the rest of the territory,” Turk claimed in a press conference at UN headquarters in New York.
The Israel Defense Forces has intensified operations over the past 10 days or so in northern Gaza, seeking to combat efforts by the Hamas terror group to reconstitute there, after a year of war following the group’s October 7, 2023, attack, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages.
The IDF issued broad evacuation orders to tens of thousands of civilians in northern Gaza before launching the operation, but many have refused to comply.
Some have said they are unable to, while others cite claims that Israeli troops have targeted those fleeing the area, and others highlight the squalid conditions in the southern Gaza humanitarian zone where residents have been pushed after repeated evacuations.
Israel says its orders are meant to keep civilians out of harm’s way, accusing terrorists of using them as human shields.
“As bombing and other attacks continue, there are serious concerns about a large-scale forcible transfer of civilians not meeting the requirements of international law for evacuation on imperative military grounds,” Turk said on Thursday.
“Forcible transfer of a large part of the population of North Gaza would amount to a war crime.”
Turk additionally called on Israel “immediately to facilitate the massive influx of humanitarian aid that is needed across all parts of Gaza.”
Israel allowed 50 aid trucks to reach northern Gaza on Wednesday, following 30 trucks that arrived on Monday, after nearly two weeks during which humanitarian groups said that all assistance had been blocked.
The United States had warned Israel that its supply of military aid would be jeopardized if more aid did not flow into the Strip within 30 days.
The IDF said Friday morning that troops of the IDF’s Givati Brigade had joined the 162nd Division in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza overnight as part of the renewed ground operation.
Dozens of terror operatives were eliminated in fighting and airstrikes across northern Gaza over the last day, the IDF said, while in central Gaza, troops of the 252nd Division targeted a building that had been used by Hamas operatives.
The news in northern Gaza came after Israeli soldiers killed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader and the architect of the October 7 attack, in southern Gaza’s Rafah.
In the wake of the terror chief’s death, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Hamas fighters to lay down their arms and hand over the terror group’s hostages, of which 101, living and dead, are still held in Gaza.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
