Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza Strip

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of war crimes in a sprawling new report that argues the Israeli military has forcibly displaced the Palestinian people in Gaza during the 13-month war against Hamas.

The 154-page report, released Thursday, examined the displacement of 90 percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza, or more than 1.9 million people. It faulted Israel for "multiple acts of forced displacement" that it said were systematic and widespread and "carried out with intent."

HRW noted that the forcible displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at the organization, said Israel "cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cuts off food, water, and sanitation."

"Israel has blatantly violated its obligation to ensure Palestinians can return home, razing virtually everything in large areas," Hardman said in a statement.

The displacement of populations in war is only allowed under limited circumstances under international law, for imperative military reasons or to protect the population.

But HRW said it spoke with 39 Palestinians who were displaced, many of them multiple times, examined evacuation orders and analyzed satellite and imagery, videos and photographs to refute Israel's justifications for displacing the Palestinian people: for their safety and in order to fight against militants.

"Human Rights Watch has amassed evidence that Israeli officials are instead committing the war crime of forcible transfer, a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court," the group wrote.

The Hill has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

Israel has fought against Hamas in a devastating war that has killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza. The war is in response to the initial attack an Oct. 7, 2023, by Hamas on southern Israel, which killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. HRW acknowledged in its report that Hamas committed war crimes on Oct. 7.

About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, and a cease-fire and hostage release deal has remained elusive, despite pressure from the Biden administration and most of the international community to bring an end to the war.

The Israeli military has seriously degraded Hamas, taking out its leaders and officials responsible for the Oct. 7 attack, but is still facing resistance from the Palestinian militant group and continues to carry out devastating air strikes and attacks in Gaza.

The United Nations, which has been critical of both Hamas and the Israeli military's attacks, said this month that close to 70 percent of the fatalities in Gaza are women and children.

Israel has also been accused of failing to get aid into Gaza. The Biden administration had set a deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Palestinians are struggling to access basic necessities like food and water. That deadline passed this week with the U.S. saying it has not violated its policies, even though the U.N. and humanitarian aid groups said Israel has fallen short.

In the report, HRW said Israel has failed to address the humanitarian aid situation in Gaza and has also cut off access for agriculture and public energy and water infrastructure in the coastal strip.

But the human rights group focused on the displacement of Palestinians, analyzing Israel's evacuation system, which it concluded has "failed to keep people safe." It faulted the Israeli military for being "inconsistent, inaccurate, and frequently not communicated to civilians with enough time to allow evacuations or at all."

The report also accuses Israel of demolitions and destruction of property in Gaza, including schools and religious sites, which HRW said is "a deliberate attempt by the Israeli authorities to create conditions that will make returning not just difficult, but impossible for many Palestinians."