<\/p>\n
10 May 2024<\/p>\n
The Israeli military\u2019s ground operation targeting eastern Rafah is a culmination of a seven-month long campaign to forcibly transfer and destroy Gaza\u2019s population, UN experts* warned today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe long-threatened Rafah invasion must not be seen as a foregone conclusion,\u201d the experts said. \u201cIsrael must halt this assault.\u201d<\/p>\n
On 6 May, as international efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, end the massacre in Gaza and ensure the release of hostages gathered steam, the Israeli military moved forward with an offensive into the southern corner of the besieged Gaza Strip, where around 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering. Israeli forces shuttered the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, further cutting off life-saving humanitarian aid, supplies and fuel needed to run Gaza\u2019s remaining hospitals and water desalination plants.<\/p>\n
The experts said the Rafah invasion was yet another flagrant violation of Israel\u2019s obligations as an occupying power. \u201cIn light of the grievous humanitarian situation on the ground, no evacuation order issued by Israel can be considered compliant with international humanitarian law,\u201d they said. International law stipulates that Israel must ensure displaced civilians are protected and have continuous access to food, safe water, and medical assistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is even more critical when Israel has been warned that its acts may amount to genocide,\u201d the experts said. \u201cFurther displacement of Gaza\u2019s population through evacuation orders or military operations contravenes\u00a0binding provisional measures<\/a><\/em>\u00a0imposed on Israel by the International Court of Justice.\u201d<\/p>\n The so-called \u2018expanded humanitarian area\u2019 of Al Mawasi, where the Israeli military has instructed evacuees to go, is already without sufficient food, water, medicine, hygiene products, electricity, shelter and access to education for children; it cannot cope with a population influx. \u201cThe forcible transfer of civilians, mostly women and more than 600,000 children\u2014including wounded children\u2014from Rafah pushes Palestinians across Gaza further into critically desperate humanitarian circumstances,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n Over the past seven months, Israel has repeatedly attacked areas where evacuees were instructed to go.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile past violations must be duly investigated and accounted for, new abuses must be prevented,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n \u201cStates with influence over Israel have described any incursion into Rafah as a \u2018red line\u2019,\u201d the experts said. \u201cThey must immediately put those words into practice and stop this disastrous campaign by ending the flow of arms into Israel and withholding investment and political support.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Francesca Albanese,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967<\/a><\/em>; Tomoya Obokata,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences<\/a><\/em>; Cecilia M Bailliet,\u00a0Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity<\/a><\/em>; Gina Romero,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association;<\/a><\/em>\u00a0Reem Alsalem,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences<\/a><\/em>; Pedro Arrojo Agudo,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation<\/a><\/em>; Bina D\u2019Costa, Dominique Day,\u00a0Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent<\/a><\/em>; Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Chair), Laura Nyirinkindi (Vice-Chair), Claudia Flores, Ivana Krsti\u0107 and Haina Lu,\u00a0Working group on discrimination against women and girls<\/a><\/em>; George Katrougalos,\u00a0Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order<\/a><\/em>; Michael Fakhri,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to food<\/a>; Siobh\u00e1n Mullally,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children<\/a><\/em>; Ashwini K.P.\u00a0Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance<\/a><\/em>; Tlaleng Mofokeng,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health<\/a><\/em>; Balakrishnan Rajagopal,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing<\/a><\/em>; Paula Gaviria Betancur,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons<\/a><\/em>; Olivier De Schutter,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights<\/a><\/em>; Margaret Satterthwaite,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers<\/a>; Farida Shaheed,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to education<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"