THE Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P) has warned that Israel’s evacuation orders for the people of Gaza may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity for the forcible transfer of a population.
The Geneva-based group noted that under international law, people must have adequate time to prepare for an evacuation, as well as a safe route to an area of safety with access to aid, which are “absent from Israel’s successive evacuation orders”.
Humanitarian agencies have warned that Israeli-designated safe zones in Gaza are unable to manage an influx of displaced persons and lack basic services, including food, water, medicine, electricity and sufficient shelter, the group said.
“The scale and intensity of mass atrocity crimes in Gaza continues to surpass our worst nightmares,” said Savita Pawnday, executive director of the GCR2P.
“So-called evacuation orders that forcibly displace suffering people again and again, the closure of crossings that deny aid to families and children facing famine, relentless bombardments and mass graves that reveal evidence of torture, all demonstrate a certain contempt for international law and the protections it extends to vulnerable populations.”
Also, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he is appalled by the escalation of military activity in and around Rafah by the Israeli Defense Forces.
These developments are further impeding humanitarian access and worsening an already dire situation. At the same time, Hamas goes on firing rockets indiscriminately. Civilians must be respected and protected at all times, in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza. For people in Gaza, nowhere is safe now.
The Secretary-General reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages. He calls for the Rafah crossing to be reopened immediately and we must have unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Gaza.
