ISRAEL/ OPT: ISRAEL MUST RESCIND LATEST ‘EVACUATION’ ORDERS FOR NORTH GAZA AND ALLOW IMMEDIATE, UNHINDERED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

Some 400,000 civilians continue to live north of Wadi Gaza, which consists of the North Gaza and Gaza governorates, which is just over one-third of the area’s population before October 2023. Those who stayed have had to endure, in addition to devastating bombardment and destruction, an Israeli-engineered food emergency, which reached horrifying levels in February and March, with people resorting to eating animal food and hospitals unable to treat patients due to lack of fuel

Israeli authorities must rescind the cruel and unlawful “evacuation” orders – Israel’s euphemism for forced displacement –   issued over the past week to residents of the North Gaza governorate and immediately allow the unhindered entry of essential supplies, including food and fuel to the area, said Amnesty International, as fears grow for the fate of civilians trapped under siege.

In recent days, the civilian death toll across the occupied Gaza Strip has continued to mount and horrifying scenes have emerged following deadly Israeli air strikes, particularly in the North Gaza governorate. Civilians have had to endure relentless Israeli bombardment and shelling, without access to basic supplies critical for the survival of the civilian population, including food and clean water. 

It has been nine months since the ICJ warned the risk of genocide in Gaza is real yet Israeli authorities continue to violate the provisional measures ordered by the court.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

The latest “evacuation” orders issued by the Israeli military to cities and camps across the North Gaza governorate on 7, 10 and 12 October and the tightened siege on the area are a terrifying escalation of the long list of horrors inflicted on people living in the area north of Wadi Gaza since October 2023. 

 “The Israeli military has intensified its efforts to forcibly displace the entirety of the civilian population in the area north of Wadi Gaza to the south, starting with the North Gaza governorate, forcing civilians to choose between starvation or displacement, while their homes and streets are relentlessly pounded by bombs and shells,” said Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa’s Regional Director at Amnesty International. 

“The world must stop standing by while Israel uses siege, starvation and atrocity crimes to forcibly displace and destroy civilians and civilian life.  These orders must be rescinded and there must be an immediate ceasefire by all parties to halt the avalanche of suffering that has been engulfing civilians in Gaza for over a year.”

A year ago, on 12 October 2023, an estimated 1.1 million Palestinians living in the area north of Wadi Gaza were subjected to an unlawful mass “evacuation” order, which forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee south, seeking safety. For many months, the hundreds of thousands of people who remained north of Wadi Gaza were largely cut off from the rest of the Strip by a fortified Israeli military zone. In December 2023, the world’s leading experts on famine reported that hunger was particularly widespread and severe there, yet Israeli authorities repeatedly obstructed and denied humanitarian access to the area. In recent days the situation has grown even more desperate following the Israeli military’s tightened siege on the area. All three partially functioning hospitals in the north – Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and the Indonesian hospital – face “evacuation” orders. 

“After a year of death and destruction, it is agonizing to hear from doctors in North Gaza that they have to perform multiple amputations every day, or from families trapped under siege that dozens of unrecognisable bodies are scattered on the streets or that people are unable to bury their loved ones amidst ceaseless bombardment. The scenes coming out of Jabalia refugee camp have been especially harrowing, for over a week, residents of the camp have been scared to leave their homes, even to look for a bag of flour for fear of being shot by the omnipresent quadcopter drones. What remains beyond any comprehension is how the international community has let this horror continue to happen again and again,” said Heba Morayef.

“It has been nine months since the ICJ warned the risk of genocide in Gaza is real yet Israeli authorities continue to violate the provisional measures ordered by the court.”

Global leaders must demand an immediate ceasefire to alleviate the unprecedented suffering that we have been witnessing over the past year. Israel has been emboldened, with the help of arms transfers from states like the US, to continue its destructive course in Gaza with total impunity.

“As well as an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israel’s cruel and inhuman blockade on Gaza and its siege in the north, Israel must grant independent monitors immediate access to Gaza to investigate all attacks. There must be accountability for the devastation that has been waged against Palestinians in Gaza over the past year,” said Heba Morayef. 

Background

Some 400,000 civilians continue to live north of Wadi Gaza, which consists of the North Gaza and Gaza governorates, which is just over one-third of the area’s population before October 2023. Those who stayed have had to endure, in addition to devastating bombardment and destruction, an Israeli-engineered food emergency, which reached horrifying levels in February and March, with people resorting to eating animal food and hospitals unable to treat patients due to lack of fuel. While access to the area north of Wadi Gaza improved slightly in mid-2024, after international outcry, Israel has, once again, cut civilians off from life-saving aid.