Afrasianet - Abdul Hamid Siam - The Human Rights Council's 2021 Independent Committee of Experts, chaired by former High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, concluded, "on reasonable grounds," that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and continue to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. "Today, we are witnessing in real time, how a promise that the Gaza genocide is a moral scandal and a legal emergency is broken," Pillay said at a press conference on September 16.
Israel's acts, which together constitute ground for what is taking place to be considered genocide, include, according to the report, "inflicting serious physical or psychological harm on members of the group; deliberately imposing living conditions on the group, with the aim of physically destroying it in whole or in part; imposing measures aimed at preventing reproduction within the group, and forcibly transferring the children of the group to another group."
In August 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, a group of academics specializing in the subject, declared in a resolution that Israel's actions in Gaza since the start of the 22-month war constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In July 2025, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The International Court of Justice is also hearing a case brought by the Government of South Africa, accusing Israeli forces of genocide.
The forced displacements carried out by Israel during the two years of war are considered war crimes and crimes against humanity that international courts must prosecute those who ordered them
Forced Displacement and International Law
Among the crimes that are considered war crimes are collective punishments, which affect a large number of the targeted people. The most important of these crimes is forced displacement, and the United Nations and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Al-Haq and Al-Mezan and B'Tselem have documented forced eviction orders, which affected all Gazans without exception.
Forced evictions are orders issued by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), or Israeli authorities in Gaza, that require residents to leave certain areas, usually due to imminent military operations, airstrikes or declaration of them as "combat zones."
These orders took various forms: flyers dropping from the air, text messages and phone calls, social media ads, and sometimes through loud warnings or recorded messages.
In many cases, the orders warn those who do not evacuate the area, who may be considered hostile or "complicit" or face a danger that makes them a target for IDF forces. On July 19, 2024, while considering the legality of Israel's measures, the ICJ gave due consideration to "the large-scale confiscation of land and the denial of access to natural resources for the Palestinian population. which led to their departure" (para. 143).
The Court referred to a number of reports issued by United Nations bodies to decide the nature of the displacement of the Palestinian population. The Court stated that Israel's policies and practices leave the Palestinians "no choice but to leave" (para. 147).
The court interpreted this compulsion to leave as falling within the meaning of "coercion" under the first paragraph of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. It is estimated that all Gazans have been subject to eviction orders or displacement at least once. For example, by late August 2024, UN officials stated that successive evacuation orders had displaced about 90 percent of Gaza's population since the war began.
Often, people were displaced several times – forced to flee from one area to another, and so on. Eviction orders were sometimes very broad, such as covering the entire Gaza City or displacing the entire northern Gaza Strip to the south. Forced evictions began at the beginning of military operations.
The Israeli military asked residents of northern Gaza to evacuate their places in mid-October 2023 within 24 hours, and this evacuation included more than one million people from north to south Gaza. On October 13, 2023, evacuation orders were issued for some 23 hospitals in northern Gaza and Gaza City.
These hospitals treated large numbers of sick and injured people, and also used shelters for displaced people. In November 2024, the Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza City was placed under an evacuation order, with residents being asked to leave for the central or southern areas of the city before the bombardment.
The Israeli defense minister issued orders to evacuate all of Gaza City on Oct. 1, 2025, warning that those who remained would be considered supporters of "terrorists." On March 28, 2025, the UN Human Rights Office accused Israel of violating international law by forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza under "mandatory eviction orders." "These evacuations do not comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law," the office spokesman said.
Evacuation orders are impossible, or extremely difficult to enforce, due to a lack of safe roads, damage to infrastructure, destruction of roads, lack of transportation, or the inability of vulnerable groups (the elderly, the sick, and people with disabilities) to move. So-called safe zones (such as al-Mawasi) often become overcrowded, with limited access to water, medical care, food and shelter. Sometimes, these same areas are bombed. Many people have had to move several times, often to increasingly overcrowded areas, compounding their suffering.
There are many questions about the legality of eviction orders and their compliance with international humanitarian law. Do eviction orders give enough warning? Do civilians have safe passage? Is the relocation destination safe? Are essential supplies and services available in the intended areas? UN officials, including the Secretary-General, have stated that "there is no safe place in Gaza."
The Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur on housing have endorsed guidelines on forced evictions, called the UN Guidelines, with the aim of seeking to reduce evictions and displacement.
These principles state that evictions can only be carried out in "exceptional circumstances" to protect the health and well-being of the population and must be followed at every stage of the evacuation process: before, during and after, in accordance with international human rights standards.
Such operations must be legally authorized, reasonable and proportionate, and ensure full and fair compensation and rehabilitation. International humanitarian law requires protection against forced evictions, and for all persons, groups and communities, the right to resettlement, which includes the right to alternative land and housing that must meet the criteria of adequacy, namely: accessibility, affordability, cultural suitability, suitability for location, and access to basic services such as health and education.
Where are these principles and guidelines from what Israel has done in the Gaza Strip?
The indisputable conclusion is that the forced displacements carried out by Israel during the two years of war are considered war crimes and crimes against humanity, and international courts must prosecute those who ordered them, carried them out and those who instigated them to complete the details of accountability for the crime of genocide.