Damian Sheales

Since October 2023, Israel has been carrying out a genocide in the Gaza Strip: a broad, coordinated attack aimed at systematically destroying living conditions, the social fabric, and Palestinians’ ability to exist as a group. The mass displacement and forced concentration of civilians is not byproducts of the genocide, but central components of it. Some 1.9 million Palestinians, constituting about 90% of the Strip’s population, have been displaced at least once since October 2023, often after losing family members and most of their property. Forced displacement under bombardment: Israel has forced millions to leave their homes through intensive bombardment and evacuation orders delivered via leaflets and digital media. These orders were often confusing, erroneous, contradictory, and at times derisive. Many residents could not access them at all due to the collapse of electricity and communications. The journey itself became a killing field: Gaza residents had to leave behind sick or elderly relatives who could not endure the journey. They traveled long distances on foot or by cart, and crossed checkpoints where they were delayed, humiliated, beaten, or arrested without cause. The military’s “safe corridors” for displaced people turned into killing fields under bombardment and sniper fire, with bodies often left along the roads. Danger in the “humanitarian” concentration areas: Once displaced, Israel concentrated internally displaced people (IDPs) in areas it defined as “safe” or “humanitarian” zones. In practice, these areas were repeatedly bombed, offered no protection to civilians, and did not ensure safe access to food, water, shelter, or healthcare. This policy turned “humanitarian” zones into tools for concentrating, controlling, and pushing the population into ever-shrinking spaces. Due to the scale of displacement and the shrinking spaces to which people were directed, extreme overcrowding developed in displacement sites. In al-Mawasi, the “humanitarian zone” steadily shrank even as the number of IDPs exceeded one million. Combined with the destruction of infrastructure, the policy of starvation and restrictions on aid, overcrowding produced especially harsh living conditions. Deliberate destruction to prevent return: Israel destroyed more than 90% of residential structures and about 70% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip, along with 81% of the road network. Entire neighborhoods and cities were wiped out. Much of this destruction, often without military necessity, was intended to prevent IDPs from returning and to make “temporary” displacement permanent. Israeli officials have openly declared ethnic cleansing and long-term control over large parts of the Strip as key objectives. Grave breach of international law: As an occupying power, Israel is prohibited from forcibly transferring the local population. Evacuations are allowed only to protect civilians, and on condition that their safety is guaranteed and their return to their homes at the end of the hostilities. In practice, Israel did not provide safe passage, shelter or basic living conditions. It harmed IDPs and prevented their return. Such displacement, when carried out on a systematic and widespread scale, may amount to a war crime and even a crime against humanity. Mass displacement, forced concentration and starvation, and the widespread destruction of Gaza’s urban environment are key practices Israel is using in its genocidal assault to destroy Palestinian society. Nearly all Gaza residents have been displaced, stripped of their property, and forced to survive for months in overcrowded camps under bombardment, hunger and disease. Even after the “ceasefire,” Israel continues to harm IDPs, block humanitarian aid, expand the destruction, and control at least 58% of Gaza’s territory. The international community must act immediately to bring in aid and initiate reconstruction, to hold accountable those responsible for the genocide, and to protect Palestinians from the violence of the Israeli regime. To the full report >> btselem.org/gaza_strip/20251…