Israeli ground forces are moving closer to what they describe as ‘the complete evacuation’ of northern Gaza, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stating that residents will not be permitted to return home.
Speaking to Israeli reporters, IDF Brig Gen Itzik Cohen said that no humanitarian aid would now enter the north, since there are ‘no more civilians left’.
This appears to be the first official acknowledgment from Israel of systematic efforts to remove Palestinians from the area, despite warnings from human rights groups that this would constitute a ‘grave breach’ of international law.
The IDF has been conducting offensive operations in northern parts of the beleaguered enclave, including Gaza City and stopped aid from entering the area as of October 1st.
According to Israeli Army Radio, the IDF is close to displacing the population of northern regions of Jabalia, Beit Lahyia and Beit Hanoun.
The station reported that: ‘The northern area, which includes tens of square kilometres, is almost completely evacuated.’
On Wednesday, social media footage depicted groups of displaced individuals, many carrying children and rucksacks, making their way south through the devastated areas of Gaza City.
38 humanitarian groups including Action Aid, Oxfam and Christian Aid signed an open letter ‘raising the alarm’ over displacements from north Gaza.
‘Israeli forces have ordered the forced displacement of an estimated 400,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza… This is not an evacuation – this is forced displacement under gunfire,’ the letter stated.
‘Forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians in Gaza is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.’
Nowhere safe to go
Thousands of Palestinians have fled during the Israeli offensive, although humanitarian groups say there is no safe location for them to flee to. As of 4 November, the UN and its partners estimated that between 75,000 and 95,000 people remain in North Gaza.Â
The UN agency UNICEF said north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital is now a ‘besieged war zone’ adding that the ‘last neonatal intensive care unit remaining in the north has been damaged in heavy attacks in recent days’.
The agency added that in the past year, 4,000 babies have been cut off from life-saving care due to continued Israeli assaults on hospitals.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters that it is ‘appalling that hospitals in Gaza continue to be attacked, patients continue to be harmed, and health workers and humanitarians continue to work under life-threatening conditions’.
Meanwhile the World Food Program has warned that as winter approaches, the lack of food and other vital humanitarian supplies entering the Gaza Strip could soon escalate into famine.
In October, approximately 1.7 million people – 80 per cent of the population – did not receive their monthly food rations across Gaza, and the number of cooked meals distributed daily shrunk to 450,000, a 25 per cent decrease compared with late September.
