<\/p>\n
22 December 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Israel is seeking to permanently alter the composition of Gaza\u2019s population with ever-expanding evacuation orders and widespread and systematic attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in southern areas of the besieged enclave, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ expert warned today.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael has reneged on promises of safety made to those who complied with its order to evacuate northern Gaza two months ago. Now, they have been forcibly displaced again, alongside the population of southern Gaza,\u201d said Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs).<\/p>\n \u201cWhere will the people of Gaza have left to go tomorrow?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs evacuation orders and military operations continue to expand and civilians are subjected to relentless attacks on a daily basis, the only logical conclusion is that Israel\u2019s military operation in Gaza aims to deport the majority of the civilian population\u00a0en masse<\/em>,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said.<\/p>\n \u201cGaza\u2019s housing and civilian infrastructure have been razed to the ground, frustrating any realistic prospects for displaced Gazans to return home, repeating a\u00a0long history of mass forced displacement<\/a>\u00a0of Palestinians by Israel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Since 7 October, 1.9 million people \u2013 85 percent of Gaza\u2019s population \u2013 have been internally displaced. The scope of evacuation orders has confined them to less than one-third of the Gaza Strip\u2019s territory. Most IDPs live in overcrowded conditions where communicable diseases are on the rise, and struggle to access food, water, electricity healthcare, sanitation, and shelter. These conditions are expected to worsen with the onset of winter.<\/p>\n \u201cGaza has long been one of the world\u2019s most densely populated territories. The confinement of the entire civilian population to a tiny fraction of the Gaza Strip has created an untenable situation for IDPs, particularly women, children including unaccompanied minors, older persons, and persons with serious medical conditions and disabilities,\u201d the expert said.<\/p>\n Gaviria Betancur urged the international community, and Israel\u2019s allies in particular, to recognise the blatant disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law that has characterised the current conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cThe principles of proportionality and distinction between civilians and combatants have been completely disregarded. Hospitals, schools, and shelters have been deliberately targeted without credible evidence that they are military objectives, or attacked without precautions to minimise incidental loss of life or injury to civilians,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said.<\/p>\n \u201cCivilians in areas under evacuation order, as well as in so-called \u201csafe zones\u201d, unilaterally designated by Israeli forces against international humanitarian law, have been the target of indiscriminate attacks which have killed nearly 19,000 Palestinians and injured over 51,000,\u201d the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ expert said.<\/p>\n \u201cMany others have said it before \u2013 but it cannot be said enough \u2013 there is no safe place in Gaza,\u201d Gaviria Betancur said.<\/p>\n Evacuation orders issued to civilians by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been inaccurate, self-contradictory, and largely depend on electricity and telecommunications networks, often subject to an illegal Israeli blackout.<\/p>\n The Special Rapporteur recalled that under international law, individuals that do not comply with evacuation orders do not lose their right to protection. Israel has failed to honour its obligations under international law to ensure displacement does not violate the rights to life, dignity, liberty and security of those affected, and ensure IDPs enjoy an adequate standard of living and access to humanitarian assistance, Gaviria Betancur said.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael\u2019s illegal blockade and stranglehold on the entry of humanitarian aid have left IDPs living in appalling conditions,\u201d she said. \u201cThe much-needed re-opening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing will barely make a dent in the needs on the ground if more aid is not allowed in. The Secretary-General has\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0that the humanitarian system in Gaza is at severe risk of collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaviria Betancur reiterated\u00a0her concerns<\/a>\u00a0that Israel\u2019s actions amount to the war crimes of collective punishment and forcible transfer.<\/p>\n \u201cI call on Israel to immediately end attacks on civilians, cease its campaign to alter the composition of Gaza\u2019s population through mass forced displacement, implement a permanent ceasefire, allow for the unrestricted passage of humanitarian aid, and prioritise dialogue to secure the safe release of remaining hostages,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ms. Paula Gaviria Betancur is the<\/strong>\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons<\/a><\/p>\n The Special Rapporteurs are part of what are known as the\u00a0Special Procedures<\/a>\u00a0of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council\u2019s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 22 December 2023 Israel is seeking to permanently alter the composition of Gaza\u2019s population with ever-expanding evacuation orders and widespread and systematic attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in southern areas of the besieged enclave, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ expert warned today. \u201cIsrael has reneged on promises of safety made to those who complied with […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[6726],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2033,5358,2005,1741,2613,1841],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-291935","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-special-rapporteur-on-the-human-rights-of-internally-displaced-persons","document-subject-children","document-subject-ClosuresCurfewsBlockades","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-internally-displaced-persons","document-subject-women","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/291935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/291935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":291957,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/291935\/revisions\/291957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=291935"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=291935"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=291935"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=291935"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=291935"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=291935"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=291935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}