Israeli rights groups warn of forced transfer in northern Gaza

AP , Monday 14 Oct 2024

Israel has ordered the entire remaining population of the northern third of Gaza, estimated at around 400,000 people, to evacuate to the south and has not allowed any food to enter the north since the start of the month.

Gaza
Palestinians carry their belongings as they flee areas north of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip. AFP

 

Hundreds of thousands of people from the north heeded Israeli evacuation orders at the start of the war and have not been allowed to return.

That has raised fears among Palestinians that Israel intends to implement a plan devised by former generals in which it would order all civilians out of northern Gaza and label anyone remaining there a combatant — a surrender-or-starve strategy that rights groups say would violate international law.

The plan has been presented to the Israeli government, but it's unclear whether it has been adopted. The army says it has not received such orders.

Israeli rights groups on Monday called on the international community to prevent Israel from carrying out the plan, saying there are “alarming signs” that Israel is beginning to implement it.

The statement, signed by B'Tselem, Gisha, Yesh Din and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, warned that states “have an obligation to prevent the crimes of starvation and forcible transfer."

On Monday, the Israeli occupation army said it allowed 30 trucks carrying flour and food into north Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said the trucks entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing.

 

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