Press Releases
Forced displacement has always been a critical pillar of domination for the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime, and has subsequently been central to its almost year-long genocide in the Gaza Strip. As Israel continues to issue its illegal “evacuation orders,” Palestinians in Gaza are crammed into small slivers of the Strip, facing conditions of slow death. Recurring and systematic displacements have caused deadly health conditions, overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions, and ultimately impeded the work of humanitarian organizations in Gaza.
Since the start of the genocide, more than 85 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced at least once and up to 10 times or more. In August, Israel issued additional illegal evacuation orders in central and southern Gaza. These orders reduced the area designated as a “humanitarian zone” to just 11 percent of the Gaza Strip, attempting to effectively cram a population of 2.2 million people into an area totalling 39 square kilometers.
Throughout the genocide, internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been forced into displacement sites—ranging from UN schools serving as shelters to tents and other forms of informal shelters—that are overcrowded and lack adequate food, water, access to healthcare and humanitarian aid, and most critically, any semblance of safety.
Furthermore, Israel has employed a widespread policy targeting IDPs, bombarding “safe routes,” purported “humanitarian” and “safe” zones, UN shelters, as well as tents around hospitals and health facilities. According to UNRWA, Israel’s attacks have damaged 190 UNRWA installations and left only 10 out of 27 UNRWA health care centers operational. The Agency also reports that at least 563 IDPs have been killed while sheltering at its facilities. Israel has also repeatedly denied UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, humanitarian access to Gaza, as part of a wider campaign of demonization and dismantlement of UNRWA.
As Palestinians continue to be crammed into ever-shrinking spaces in the Strip, they face appalling and deadly living conditions leading to the rise of sickness and disease. These conditions are also magnified by Israel’s destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza, which has left only 17 out of 36 hospitals partially operational. Among the rising illnesses and diseases, there are around 995,000 cases of acute respiratory conditions and 40,000 cases of Hepatitis A recorded. Per the WASH Cluster, the lack of hygiene items, restricted access to clean water and sanitation facilities are posing “a growing risk of severe health impacts,” especially for displaced families in overcrowded shelters and displacement sites.
Israel’s relentless systematic displacement of Palestinians has not only magnified health conditions, but also impeded the work of humanitarian organizations. All UN Clusters operating in Gaza reported a disruption in access to sites and partners, and having to suspend their services due to Israel’s continuous forced displacement of Palestinians. The consequences of their inability to operate are detrimental: for example, 1 million people in southern and central Gaza did not receive any food rations in August; and 2,975 students lost access to education at UN-led Temporary Learning Spaces. Save the Children also reports that “[a]t least 24 NGOs have reported impacts from orders in [August] resulting in the forced displacement of staff members, operations disrupted, and at least one site sheltering civilians under attack. Warehouses storing supplies are located within the blocks that have come under orders that are resulting in forcible displacement.”
Furthermore, Lazzarini reported that, amid increasing humanitarian needs, Israel has “stopped giving visas to the heads and staff of international NGOs.” The humanitarian organizations that did manage to gain entry to Gaza, access has been severely hindered and limited, with mission denials almost doubling in August compared to July. In southern Gaza, the number of facilitated aid missions dropped by 28 percent, while northern Gaza saw 140 percent rise in mission denials, severely impacting essential aid delivery.
Israel’s repeated displacement of Palestinians en masse is evidently used as an act of genocide. This has resulted in hazardous and deplorable health conditions, separation of families, loss of education, and other consequences that are magnified further by the decimation of the healthcare system and the inability of agencies and NGOs to carry out the necessary humanitarian response. With the fall and winter seasons around the corner, these conditions will deteriorate even further, particularly with the lack of practical measures from the international community and the complicity of Israel's colonial allies.
Israel’s deliberate infliction of these conditions of life is calculated to bring about the destruction of the group, and constitutes an act of genocide under the Genocide Convention. Israel’s destruction of the Gaza Strip and its population not only serve as a testament of the Ongoing Nakba, but also of the ongoing complicity of colonial states in genocide and the impunity of Israel on the global stage.
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