Israeli forces continue to push Palestinians into ever-smaller areas of the Gaza Strip while destroying civilian infrastructure and attacking displacement sites, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned on Friday, October 30, amid concerns of ethnic cleansing. OHCHR said Israel has stated that it aims to increase the area of military deployment to 70 per cent of Gaza's territory, and that the relentless contraction of space has caused new displacement in areas next to the 'yellow line' demarcation boundary.

Source: UN News

Over the past two weeks, OHCHR documented the westward expansion of Israeli military deployment areas in Al Shujaiyeh, in Gaza City, and in three locations in Middle Gaza — eastern Al Bureij, eastern Deir Al-Balah and eastern Al Maghazi. In Al Shujaiyeh, at least two Israeli attacks were reported on displacement camps, OHCHR said, while forces reportedly used explosive robots to detonate the few buildings left standing in the area.

OHCHR said it received reports that on October 25, an Israeli drone dropped munitions on tents sheltering displaced families at Al Shujaiyeh junction, near the yellow line, and the resulting fire burned for five hours. As a result, 200 families comprising 800 people — mostly women, children and older persons — were displaced, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing, cited by OHCHR.

'The nightmare of displacement in Gaza is both acute and chronic,' said Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 'Those displaced before the announcement of a ceasefire have little to no prospect of return to the areas they fled, most of which are inaccessible because they fall beyond the so-called yellow line. And they continue to be displaced again and again.'

What the UN office is asking

OHCHR said that, as an occupying power, Israel must cease the forcible transfer of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, noting that this is a war crime that may also amount to a crime against humanity, and must facilitate Palestinians' safe and dignified return to their homes. It said Israeli forces appear to treat the yellow line as a kill zone, preventing Palestinians from returning to what is left of their homes on the other side, and that restrictions on the entry of shelter-related humanitarian assistance are worsening the crisis. The full OHCHR release, carried by ReliefWeb, added that more than 80 per cent of buildings and structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations Satellite Centre.

'There must be an end to this suffering. This is the fourth year of displacement for most Palestinians in Gaza, the fourth winter in tents too flimsy to withstand the rain, and they are still under fire through it all,' Mr Sunghay said. 'Let this be the last.' In a separate assessment reported by Qatar News Agency on October 28, the Gaza Center for Human Rights said Israeli forces control or restrict access to more than 70 per cent of Gaza's 365 square kilometres, leaving an estimated 15 per cent usable for housing and shelter. The UN release carried no Israeli response to the warning.