UN Rights Office Warns of Deepening Displacement 'Nightmare' in Gaza: Israel Aims to Expand Military Deployment to 70 Percent of the Strip, 'Yellow Line' Called a Kill Zone
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, warned on October 30 that Israeli forces continue to push Palestinians into ever-smaller areas of the Gaza Strip while destroying civilian infrastructure and attacking displacement sites, deepening a displacement crisis that has raised concerns of ethnic cleansing. OHCHR said Israel has stated it aims to increase the area of military deployment to 70 per cent of Gaza's territory.
Over the past two weeks, OHCHR documented the westward expansion of Israeli military deployment areas in Al Shujaiyeh, Gaza City, and in three locations in Middle Gaza - eastern Al Bureij, eastern Deir Al-Balah and eastern Al Maghazi - causing new displacement in areas adjacent to the 'yellow line' demarcation boundary. In Al Shujaiyeh, at least two Israeli attacks were reported on displacement camps, while forces reportedly used explosive robots to detonate the few buildings left standing. OHCHR said it received reports that on October 25, an Israeli drone dropped munitions on tents sheltering displaced families at Al Shujaiyeh junction near the yellow line and the resulting fire burned for five hours; as a result, 200 families comprising 800 people - mostly women, children and older persons - were displaced, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
'The nightmare of displacement in Gaza is both acute and chronic,' said Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. 'Those displaced before the announcement of a ceasefire have little to no prospect of return to the areas they fled, most of which are inaccessible because they fall beyond the so-called yellow line. And they continue to be displaced again and again.'
OHCHR said that as an occupying power, Israel must cease the forcible transfer of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, noting that this is a war crime that may also amount to a crime against humanity, and must facilitate Palestinians' safe and dignified return to their homes. It said Israeli forces appear to treat the yellow line as a kill zone, preventing Palestinians from returning to what is left of their homes on the other side, while restrictions on the entry of shelter-related humanitarian assistance have worsened the crisis. 'There must be an end to this suffering. This is the fourth year of displacement for most Palestinians in Gaza, the fourth winter in tents too flimsy to withstand the rain, and they are still under fire through it all,' Mr. Sunghay said. 'Let this be the last.'
Related: Gaza Families Face a Fourth Winter in Tents as UN Aid Is Blocked and Kerem Shalom Crossing Closes
Source: GSM · USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加沙地带代尔拜莱赫（Deir el-Balah）流离失所巴勒斯坦人的帐篷被雨水淹浸。Ashraf Amra 摄，UNRWA，经 Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO。 / Flooded tents of displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip. Photo by Ashraf Amra, UNRWA, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
