Geneva - Saba:
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned of the catastrophic consequences of the Israeli entity's resumption of ground attacks in the Gaza Strip, coupled with forced displacement under the guise of evacuation orders and the continued heavy aerial bombardment.
This is forcing hundreds of thousands to flee once again without shelter, after the Israeli army destroyed the vast majority of homes, shelters, and buildings in the Strip.
The Monitor said in a statement that its field team monitored the Israeli army's incursion into western Beit Lahia on the evening of Thursday, March 20, coinciding with airstrikes and intense artillery shelling during the night. This forced thousands of residents living in tents and dilapidated homes to be forcibly displaced, without any protection and under bombardment, to areas lacking even the most basic necessities of life.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stated that the Israeli occupation army has escalated its violations in other areas. Over the past few hours, it carried out ground incursions into two locations in Rafah, outside the buffer zone where its forces are stationed along the border with Egypt. It also continued to issue illegal evacuation orders to forcibly displace residents from towns east of Khan Yunis and the city of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Monitor explained that thousands of residents of these areas were forced to flee, abandoning their belongings due to the lack of means of transporting their few belongings. It noted that they found themselves once again facing the suffering of forced displacement to a place of no shelter, having re-arranged dilapidated temporary shelters near their destroyed homes over the 42 days following the ceasefire on January 19.
It confirmed that all illegal evacuation orders and ground incursions coincide with a violent bombing campaign since dawn last Tuesday, targeting inhabited homes, tents housing displaced persons, shelters, and population centers without any justification or military necessity. This is part of the Israeli entity's systematic policy of imposing harsh living conditions on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, leading to their virtual destruction. This is an act of genocide that the occupying entity has been perpetrating against them continuously for 18 months.
In this regard, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor noted the statement issued by Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz on Tuesday, in which he said he had ordered the army to take control of new areas in Gaza and evacuate residents southward, escalate land, air, and sea bombardment, and use all means of civil and military pressure, including implementing President Trump's plan to displace Gaza's population.
This statement adds to a "final warning" message the same minister issued last Wednesday, in which he said: "Take the advice of the President of the United States. Return the kidnapped soldiers and get rid of Hamas, and other options will be opened to you, including the possibility of leaving for other parts of the world for those who wish to do so."
The Monitor emphasized that Katz's statements clearly reflect Israel's declared intention to impose forced displacement on Palestinians as part of the ongoing genocide there for 18 months. They reveal a comprehensive plan to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population through policies of starvation, mass destruction, and continuous terror, ultimately forcing Palestinians to leave their land under the weight of bombardment, deprivation, and the lack of livelihoods.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned that these statements are not merely threats, but rather reflect a reality being implemented on the ground through widespread killing and the imposition of unlivable living conditions. These are being implemented with the direct support and approval of the United States, which provides political and military cover for the continuation of Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip by providing financial and military aid, obstructing any international efforts to hold them accountable, and intervening to prevent the issuance or implementation of UN resolutions that might curb these violations. This makes the United States not just a partner, but a key actor in the continuation of the genocide.
According to the latest field updates, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in less than 72 hours killed 591 Palestinians, including more than 220 children and 120 women, and injured more than a thousand others, some of whom are in critical condition.
The Monitor believes that the international community's silence has encouraged the Israeli entity to continue its crimes, even targeting UN headquarters and international organizations, killing and wounding without deterrence. This is a grave violation of the rules of international law that provide special protection to UN headquarters and its staff. This in itself constitutes a full-fledged international crime that requires immediate accountability.
In this context, the Monitor noted the crime of Israeli forces bombing, last Wednesday morning, the residence of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) staff in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. This resulted in the death of UN employee Marin Marinov and the serious injury of five others, all of foreign nationality. Among them were three working to support the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) program in the occupied Palestinian territory, and two others working within the UN 2720 mechanism for Gaza.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stated that this was the second targeting of the headquarters within 12 hours. The previous night, it had been subjected to Israeli shelling, with a shell hitting the roof of the building without causing any casualties.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned that Israel's denial of responsibility for this crime, despite the clarity of the Israeli targeting and the nature of the shrapnel found at the headquarters—which, according to an investigation conducted by experts for CNN, matched an Israeli 120mm M339 tank shell—is merely an extension of its approach of manipulating facts and escaping punishment.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor emphasized that Israel's evasion of responsibility for this crime is not merely misleading, but rather a calculated approach that reflects its belief that it can manipulate the facts and escape accountability without consequences. In the absence of any serious investigations or genuine international accountability, the entity continues its violations without restraint, relying on the absolute political and diplomatic protection it enjoys.
It warned that the issue is not limited to the continued perpetration of crimes by the Israeli entity, but rather extends to pushing the boundaries to the maximum, violating all principles of international law. He recognizes that every violation that goes unpunished paves the way for more horrific practices, thus entrenching a reality in which the most brutal crimes become commonplace and the violation of the law becomes more blatant, under an international system that repeatedly proves its inability to impose any form of deterrence.
The Monitor emphasized that the international community's silence on the bloody crimes committed by the Israeli entity over the past eighteen months in the Gaza Strip was not merely a shameful failure, but rather a de facto mandate for it to continue its massacres and escalate the crime of genocide by returning to the widespread killing of Palestinians and continuing the systematic destruction of their livelihoods, in a clear effort to completely exterminate them there.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned that, regardless of the pretexts promoted by the Israeli entity, the systematic patterns of mass killing, ongoing forced starvation, deliberate deprivation of basic necessities for survival, and the wholesale destruction of infrastructure in Gaza cannot be justified under any circumstances. These acts are not merely isolated crimes, but rather part of a systematic policy aimed at dismantling Palestinian society and eliminating it as a viable entity, which is the essence of the crime of genocide perpetrated by the occupying entity in the Gaza Strip.
The Monitor emphasized that attempts to portray these crimes as military necessities or security considerations are nothing but blatant deception aimed at covering up the crime of genocide. However, these justifications do not change the legal reality, as these acts are carried out with the clear intent of eliminating the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor warned the international community against engaging with these justifications in any way, emphasizing that it must take immediate action to hold those responsible accountable and prevent the continuation of this crime against the population of the Gaza Strip.
The Monitor called on all states to assume their legal responsibilities and take urgent action to stop the genocide in Gaza through all their actions, to take all effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians there, to impose all necessary measures to compel the Israeli entity to lift the blockade completely and immediately, to allow the free movement of people and goods without restrictions, to open all crossings without arbitrary conditions, and to take effective steps to save Palestinians from plans for slow killing and forced displacement, including activating an urgent response to meet the immediate and appropriate needs of the population, including the provision of adequate temporary housing.
The Monitor called on the international community to impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel due to its systematic and serious violation of international law. These sanctions include a ban on arms exports to Israel, a halt to military cooperation, and a freeze on the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians. It also called for the suspension of trade privileges and bilateral agreements that grant Israel economic benefits, increasing pressure on it to end its crimes against Palestinians.
The watchdog called for accountability and holding accountable states complicit and complicit with Israel in committing these crimes, most notably the United States and other states that provide Israel with any form of support or assistance related to the commission of these crimes, including providing aid and engaging in contractual relations in the military, intelligence, political, legal, financial, media, and other areas that contribute to the continuation of these crimes.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor urged the International Criminal Court to expedite its investigations and issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials implicated in international crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. It reminded member states of the Rome Statute of their legal obligations to fully cooperate with the court and ensure the implementation of arrest warrants issued against Israeli officials to prevent their impunity.
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