A report published by research group Forensic Architecture calls into question Israel’s argument before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it introduced measures to safeguard civilian life in Gaza.
The alleged measures are part of Israel’s defense against genocide charges brought against it by South Africa at the ICJ for its conduct during its war on Gaza.
Forensic Architecture, based at Goldsmith’s University in London, also suggested in its report released Wednesday that what Israel describes as humanitarian evacuations of Gaza residents could amount to their forced displacement, itself a war crime.
The research group has previously been recognized for its open source, multidisciplinary research into conflict and state violence. He has presented evidence to the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and the European Court of Human Rights, among others.
Defense against genocide
In its defense against genocide charges before the ICJ on January 12, Israel cited the existence of its Civilian Damage Mitigation Unit as evidence of its military’s efforts to prevent civilian casualties.
Among other points, lawyers representing Israel highlighted the unit’s efforts to inform civilians in targeted areas in advance, including by issuing leaflets, radio broadcasts and phone calls, as well as providing maps detailing the corridors leading to the places she has designated as safe.
Israel’s claims, in addition to gaining popularity in the international media, have also been one of the main arguments to justify its continued military campaign against Gaza.
But according to the study, Israel’s “evacuation orders” “caused mass displacements and forced transfers, and contributed to the massacre of civilians throughout the Gaza Strip.”
Since the start of the war in October, around two million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced from the north to the south. Among these, the report notes, a considerable body of research, including its own, “has documented Palestinian civilians being bombed, shot, executed, arrested, tortured, treated in a degrading manner, and forcibly disappeared by the Israeli army on along the roads, corridors. and areas declared “safe””.
The result, notes Forensic Architecture, was the deaths of more than 30,000 people in Gaza, more than 70 percent of them women and children, with thousands missing and tens of thousands injured.
The damage inflicted on the population was exacerbated by what the report calls “unprecedented and catastrophic levels of infrastructure destruction and agricultural damage, and the systematic targeting of vital civilian structures, including hospitals, schools, sites of religious and cultural heritage, bakeries and houses.”
Rather than serving as humanitarian measures intended to protect life, the study claims that Israel’s evacuation orders facilitated “displacement, deaths and genocidal acts” against Palestinians in Gaza.
“Cartographic Terror”
Poor mapping, referred to in the report as “mapping terror,” also served to sow confusion and panic among displaced Gazans due to incorrect and vague instructions.
Forensic Architecture said that information provided by Israel to Palestinians in Gaza, apparently to allow them access to safe areas, was confusing, “resulting in instances of targeting and military bombardment of roads and areas designated as ‘safe’.” » by the Israeli army. .
Furthermore, the report notes, evacuation orders often facilitated the movement of displaced civilians to areas of active Israeli military operations, which in many cases resulted in significant civilian casualties.
Examples detailed include the January attacks on Khan Younis, Rafah and al-Mawasi, all of which had previously been deemed safe. The attacks left many victims, including children.
Lack of facilities
Under international law, civilians evacuated from conflict zones must receive appropriate care while on the move, with humanitarian leaders noting in November that any safe zone must have “the essential elements for survival, including food, water, shelter, hygiene, health assistance, and security.
However, the study indicates that since the start of the conflict on October 7, Israel has failed to provide protection for the displaced population, depriving them of “adequate access to food and water, ‘humanitarian aid, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene, sanitation and sanitation’. medical care,” contravening the ICJ’s January ruling stipulating the actions Israel must take to avoid a possible conviction for genocide.
In other cases, large numbers of civilians were “knowingly” directed to areas that had been under an evacuation order less than 24 hours previously and had since become unlivable.
Status
Concerns were also raised about the arbitrary manner in which the Israeli army chose to redefine the status of civilians who were unable to leave locations specified by the army’s evacuation orders.
A leaflet cited in the report warned civilians that “anyone who chooses not to leave northern Gaza to go south to Wadi Gaza (the stream that bisects the Gaza Strip) could be identified as complicit with a terrorist organization.” , an injunction that the authors claim was in effect. throughout the campaign and effectively served to redefine Palestinian civilians unable to evacuate the region as potential combatants.