Amnesty International: Mass displacement of Gaza residents is illegal and inhumane

Amnesty International called on Israel to immediately rescind the mass displacement order issued by its military against the residents of Gaza City as it escalated its assault on the city, stressing that this order exacerbates the suffering of civilians amid an ongoing genocide.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, said the Israeli military’s mass displacement order for Gaza City’s residents is “cruel and unlawful.”

She added that this further entrenches the genocidal living conditions imposed by Israel on Palestinians, and considered the decision to threaten hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City.

She also noted that Gazans have suffered from nearly two years of continuous bombardment, starvation, and crowding into makeshift camps or sheltering in overcrowded buildings, and that this decision represents for them “a devastating and inhumane repetition of the mass displacement order issued to all residents of northern Gaza on October 13, 2023.”

Amnesty International has repeatedly stated that the forced displacement or deportation of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip constitutes a “violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.” It reported collecting “horrific” testimonies from residents and healthcare workers after the order was issued.