Amnesty International said that the order issued by the Israeli occupation army to the people in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City to move to the south of the Strip cannot be considered an effective warning, and may amount to forced displacement of the civilian population, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.
The organization added in a press statement today, Saturday, that regardless of the time frame for implementing this order, Israel cannot treat northern Gaza as a firing zone based on the issuance of this order, and its forces must commit to taking all possible precautions to reduce the harm to civilians wherever they are in Gaza.
“With this order, Israeli forces begin the mass forcible displacement of more than 1.1 million people from Gaza City and the entire northern part of the Gaza Strip,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard. “This has generated panic among the population, leaving thousands of internally displaced Palestinians to live on the streets.” "They do not know where to flee or where they can find safety amid Israel's relentless bombing campaign and merciless collective punishment measures. This order must be rescinded immediately."
Since the start of the escalation, more than 532,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, some of whom have been displaced twice.
She added: “Israel’s allies and donor countries must urgently call for respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians. The international community must also refrain from further legitimizing the illegal blockade imposed by Israel for 16 years, and immediately stop the transfer of weapons that "It can be used to commit unlawful attacks."
Roads in northern Gaza have been severely damaged by Israeli air strikes, public transportation is unavailable, and fuel is scarce due to the tightening of the ongoing blockade.
One humanitarian worker in Gaza told Amnesty International: “They (the Israeli army) should tell me how we can evacuate the hospitals that are full of ICU patients and all the wounded in the recent attacks. This is nonsense, it is impossible.”
Due to the destruction of roads and the scarcity of fuel, rescue teams are unable to reach the areas of northern Gaza to recover hundreds of bodies that are still trapped under the rubble due to the recent Israeli raids.
Callamard stressed that the international community cannot stand idly by while the occupation forces illegally displace more than a million Palestinians from their homes, and called for an immediate halt to Israel's forced displacement of civilians in Gaza.
Amnesty International called on Israel to adhere to the principles of international law and refrain from collective punishment, revenge and displacement.
This afternoon, the Ministry of Health announced that the death toll as a result of the ongoing occupation aggression against our people in Gaza and the West Bank had risen to 2,269 martyrs and 9,814 injured.
The Ministry of Health indicated that the death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 2,215 martyrs and 8,714 injured, and in the West Bank, 54 martyrs and more than 1,100 injured.
