October 10, 2024
Northern Gaza under Ever-Expanding Ethnic Cleansing: Urgent Action Needed to Protect Civilians and End Mass Forced Displacement
Northern Gaza under Ever-Expanding Ethnic Cleansing: Urgent Action Needed to Protect Civilians and End Mass Forced Displacement

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) vehemently condemns Israel’s widescale military assault on the northern Gaza Strip which has dramatically escalated over the past five days, leading to mass killings, siege, and forced displacement, targeting hundreds of thousands of Gazans, in perpetuation of Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians across the Gaza Strip ongoing for a year now.

PCHR warns that IOF are perpetrating an unprecedented ethnic cleansing operation, employing every conceivable method of mass killing, destruction, and starvation against hundreds of thousands of defenseless Palestinian civilians in particular in northern Gaza. Israel openly expresses its intent to forcibly displace the entire population from the Strip, amid deafening international silence that gives IOF free rein to act without accountability, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which is alarmingly not applied in the occupied Palestinian territory.

According to PCHR’s field documentation, since the afternoon of Saturday, 05 October 2024, IOF have launched dozens of intense airstrikes accompanied with artillery shelling and the firing of smoke and stun grenades, targeting Jabalia and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. That same evening, IOF launched a ground offensive east of Jabalia refugee camp and northwest of Beit Lahia under massive consecutive strikes known as fire belts,  intense artillery shelling, and quadcopter fire, forcibly displacing hundreds of residents.

At around 12:02 on Monday, 07 October 2024, IOF issued forced displacement orders for the Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahia residents in northern Gaza, ordering them to move to the so-called humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza Strip. Simultaneously, IOF maintained control of several key areas separating Jabalia refugee camp from Jabalia town and continued their dominance over large neighborhoods by opening fire at civilians from Israeli quadcopters.

Also, Israeli drones dropped leaflets ordering the residents to move to southern Gaza Strip, indicating Israel’s clear intent to continue its plan to depopulate northern Gaza.

At 14:50, IOF fired smoke bombs at the gate of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, igniting fires near the gate and causing damage, as well as enticing fear and panic among patients and medical personnel inside the hospital, amid concerns that the hospital could go again out of service.

At 14:50 on Tuesday, 08 October 2024, Israeli warplanes attacked homes and buildings around Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia Housing Project, northern Gaza, inflicting massive damage and injuries. Israeli drones also opened fire on anyone moving through the main and side streets in the area, hindering casualties’ access and transfer to the hospital and spreading panic among patients and medical teams.

Later, IOF ordered the evacuation of the hospital, signaling a clear intention to destroy all life-sustaining infrastructure in the area.

Dr. Hossam Abu Safieh, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, reported receiving official calls from IOF ordering him to evacuate all patients, the wounded, and medical personnel from the hospital within 24 hours, so it would be completely empty by tomorrow.

IOF also arrested a paramedic during a coordinated mission to transfer children from Kamal Adwan Hospital to Al-Maamadani Hospital.

IOF’s policy and systematic pattern of attacks explicitly indicate the intent to force Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, al-Awda Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, north Gaza, to cease their operations and thereby deprive hundreds of thousands of residents of medical services. These hospitals had already been shut down during the extensive ground offensive in the area last November and December.

As part of this policy, Israeli warplanes bombed one of the last remaining bakeries, proving IOF’s intent to deliberately destroy all facilities indispensable for the population’s survival.

At 15:00, IOF bombed people gathering outside Zain Al-Din Bakery near Abu Qamar Station in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, killing 13 and injuring at least five others.

At 18:30, IOF forced dozens of residents to evacuate their homes on Mazaya Street in Jabalia Town, northern Gaza. Women and children were ordered to leave the area toward Jabalia refugee camp, while men were detained, had their IDs checked, and most of them were later released, ordering them to go to Jabalia.

On that day, three Palestinians, including a woman, a man, and his son, were killed while attempting to flee the area after being shot by IOF’s fire.

At 12:00 on Wednesday, 09 October 2024, an Israeli drone bombed al-Rafa’i School, a shelter to hundreds of displaced people in Jabalia town, northern Gaza, killing three and injuring 15 others.

At 12:30, Israeli warplanes bombed the home of Abu Zer family in Bir al-Na’jah, west of Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, killing six and injuring others. Several people remain trapped under the rubble, with rescue teams unable to reach them due to the dangerous situation.

At 13:00, IOF opened fire on people who were trying to flee their homes near Abu Sharikh Roundabout, west of Jabalia camp, killing 10 and injuring others with rescue teams unable to reach them.

At around 14:00, Israeli warplanes bombed displaced people’s tents inside al-Yemen al-Sa’eed Hospital sheltering thousands of them in Jabalia refugee camp.  As a result, 17 displaced people were killed, including women and children and others were injured.

At 16:00, IOF targeted a group of journalists near Abu Sharikh Roundabout, west of Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, killing Mohammad al-Tanani, a photojournalist for Al-Aqsa TV, and injuring the channel’s reporter, Tamer Lubbad. Moreover, Journalist Fadi al-Wahidi was shot in the chest and is in critical condition.

Our researchers have received reports of several dead bodies and people injured strewn across the streets and under the rubble of homes as it is incredibly difficult for rescue teams and civil defense to move and retrieve them.

Over the past days, Israeli warplanes have bombed many homes and shelters on top of their residents and displaced people,  inflicting large influx of deaths and injuries, while rescue teams and civil defense struggle to operate amid the roads blocked by Israeli bombardment or gunfire from Israeli quadcopters.

Our researchers report that tens of thousands of families are trapped in Jabalia, Jabalia refugee camp, and Beit Lahia, unable to move due to Israeli fire and cut off from food and water, with many facing the threat of death by starvation or dehydration.

Our teams face challenges in documenting and reporting incidents and latest updates due to the Israeli bombardment and ground invasion.

In light of the above, PCHR calls on the international community to take immediate action to protect Palestinian civilians and halt Israel’s plans to depopulate northern Gaza.

PCHR asserts that Israel’s unabated genocidal campaign and blatant disregard for all demands and calls to stop its genocide in Gaza are emboldened by the perpetual impunity granted to Israel by the United States and some Western allies alongside these nations’ complicity in the serious violations committed against the Palestinian people through continuously arming Israel with weapons, ammunition, and political support.

We call on the international community to take urgent and impactful action to force Israel to stop its genocide, impose an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and compel it to comply with the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures to prevent and stop the genocide.