The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) issuance of evacuation orders for Rafah City and three neighborhoods in southern Khan Yunis, forcibly displacing tens of thousands of civilians. This coincides with intensified airstrikes and bombings targeting gatherings, homes, and tents on top of its residents, particularly during the first two days of ‘Eid al-Fitr.
This escalation comes following the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of increasing military pressure on Gaza, asserting Israel’s aim to impose security control over the Strip. Ultimately, this leads to the implementation of Trump’s plan, which facilitates the so-called “voluntary displacement” of Palestinians.1 This reveals Israel’s intent to persist in its genocide and make Gaza unlivable, forcing its residents into compulsory displacement.
As part of its systematic policy to uproot residents and impose a new demographic reality, on Monday, 31 March 2025, the IOF issued orders for all residents in the areas of the municipalities of Rafah, Al-Nasr and Al-Shawka, eastern and western districts, as well as the Al-Salam, Al-Manara and Qisan Al-Najjar neighborhoods, to evacuate and move to al-Mawasi area. This comes without any guarantees for protection or shelter, constituting a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forcible transfer of civilians, regardless of the motive.
According to PCHR’s researchers’ follow-up, tens of thousands of residents have been forcibly displaced under catastrophic conditions amid no means of transportation due to the lack of fuel. The residents packed a few of their belongings and then began searching for alternative shelter in al-Mawasi area.
It is worth noting that the IOF launched a widescale ground assault on Rafah on 07 May 2024, forcibly displacing its residents, along with more than one million displaced people, whose displacement journey continued for the past few months. Only about 100,000 of Rafah’s residents returned to their neighborhoods following the ceasefire agreement on 19 January 2025; most of them lived in tents or partially destroyed houses. In the past weeks, these residents have endured a ground assault, airstrikes, artillery shelling, and gunfire by the IOF, who are stationed up to 1 km along the southern and eastern borders. (More details about the situation in Rafah due to the Israeli genocide are available in PCHR’s report.)
Since the ceasefire, the IOF previously issued many evacuation orders that forcibly displaced about 200,000 Palestinians from northern Gaza Strip, some of Gaza City’s neighborhoods, and eastern Khan Yunis.
The recent forced displacement orders coincided with a widescale military escalation, as the IOF’s warplanes and artillery launched dozens of intense airstrikes and shells on civilians’ homes, shelters, gatherings, and carts. They also carried out mass killings, claiming the lives of more than 73 Palestinians, including children and women, and injuring over 200 others during the first and second days of ‘Eid al-Fitr.
In light of the above, PCHR strongly condemns the IOF’s forced displacement orders in Rafah, southern Khan Yunis, and many other areas across the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that these orders are part of Israel’s systematic pursuit of genocide by inflicting dire life conditions in Gaza to turn it into unlivable zone.
PCHR warns of Israel’s serious and publicly declared intentions to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. It also believes that Israel’s return to conducting ground invasions, imposing its control over Palestinian cities and neighborhoods, forcibly displacing residents, committing extensive mass killings, and intensifying its policy of starvation and deprivation of medical treatment could be part of the accelerated and gradual implementation of this plan.
Thus, PCHR calls on the international community to take decisive and urgent measures to stop the ongoing genocide and hold the Israeli leaders accountable for their atrocious crimes. PCHR also urges the State Parties to the Genocide Convention to fulfil their legal obligations and take urgent action to protect Palestinian civilians from the genocide and mass killings.
PCHR affirms that the international silence on these crimes encourages Israel to continue its violations. PCHR reiterates its call for taking effective measures to stop these massacres and hold the perpetrators accountable.
[…] to our researchers’ follow-up, since Tuesday and a day following the IOF’s issuance of evacuation orders for Rafah City and three neighborhoods in southern Khan Yunis, forcibly […]