Israel’s creation of buffer zone in Gaza may be a war crime, top UN official says

Geneva Conventions prohibit 'destruction by the occupying power of property belonging to private persons', Volker Turk says

Israeli troops at the border with Lebanon as the army continues its actions against Hamas. AFP

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Israel’s ongoing destruction of buildings in Gaza with the aim of creating a buffer zone along the border is unjustified and a war crime, the UN's human rights chief said on Thursday.

The “extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, amounts to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime”, Volker Turk said in a statement.

Israeli leaders have said the buffer zone is aimed at preventing a repeat of the October 7 attack by Hamas.

The UN human rights office reported that demolitions have occurred in recent weeks in Beit Hanoun in north Gaza, As Shujaiyeh in Gaza city, An Nuseirat Camp in middle Gaza, and Khan Younis.

He warned that the objective of creating a buffer zone for general security purposes did “not appear consistent with the narrow 'military operations' exception set out in international humanitarian law”.

“Israel has not provided cogent reasons for such extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure,” Mr Turk said.

He pointed out to the Israeli authorities that Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention “prohibits destruction by the occupying power of property belonging to private persons”.

The US, Israel's top ally and provider of military aid, has repeatedly said Gaza's territory should not change and that a buffer zone would be a breach of that principle.

“When it comes to the permanent status of Gaza … we remain clear about not encroaching on its territory,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the destruction of homes and crucial civilian infrastructure “appears to be aimed at or has the effect of rendering the return of civilians to these areas impossible”.

A satellite photo shows the Gaza Strip, including new demolition along a 1km-deep path on the border with Israel. Planet Labs PBC / AP

He added that the “forcible transfer of civilians” may also constitute a war crime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered troops to prepare to enter Gaza's crowded southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, even as new talks aimed at securing a truce with Hamas were set to open on Thursday in Cairo.

The Israeli leader announced the order after rejecting Hamas's response to a ceasefire proposal at the centre of recent intensive diplomatic efforts.

Heavy fighting has raged on in the enclave despite international efforts towards a ceasefire in the bloodiest ever Gaza war, sparked by Hamas's October attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of almost 1,200 people.

Israel vowed to eliminate the Palestinian militant group and launched air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed tens of thousands.

During a press conference in New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told journalists that Israeli leaders have repeatedly said that they are not fighting the Palestinian people, they are fighting Hamas.

Mr Guterres stated if that was the case, he could not understand how the war is being conducted in such a way that has led to the deaths of 27,800 people, the displacement of 75 per cent of the population and the destruction of entire neighbourhoods.

“I think that there is something wrong in the way the military operations have been conducted,” said the UN chief.

He also expressed full support for the decisions of the International Court of Justice, which is currently hearing a case brought by South Africa in which Israel is accused of committing genocide in Gaza, and stressed that all their “decisions must be implemented”.

100 days of Israel Gaza war – in pictures

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  Palestinian Muhammad Al Durra with his children in the ruins of a house in Rafah where they sheltered on January 11, 2024. EPA

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  Family and friends at the funerals of journalists Hamza Al Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya on January 7, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. Getty Images

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  Palestinians mourn relatives killed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a mortuary in Khan Younis January 4, 2024. AP Photo

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  Displaced Palestinians queue to bake bread at a camp in the Muwasi area of Rafah, Gaza Strip, on December 23, 2023. AP Photo

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  Palestinians queue for food in Rafah, the Gaza Strip, on December 20, 2023. AP Photo

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  The ruins of Rafah on December 14, 2023. AFP

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  Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Khan Younis on December 8, 2023. AP Photo

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  Palestinians flee Israeli bombing along the Salaheddine Road in the Zeitoun district of Gaza city on November 28, 2023. AFP

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  A Red Cross vehicle takes Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip into Egypt in Rafah on November 25, 2023. AP

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  The ruins of buildings in Gaza city on November 24, 2023, as a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas took effect. AP Photo

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  A woman and her cat return home to eastern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during the first hours of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas forces on November 24, 2023. AFP

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  Mourning the dead of Israeli bombardment outside the mortuary at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on November 14, 2023. AFP

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  Civilians and rescuers look for survivors in the rubble of a building after Israeli bombing of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 12, 2023. AFP

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  November 7, 2023, a month to the day after Hamas attacked Israel, a victim of an Israeli bombardment in Rafah is moved from the rubble. AFP

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  Searching the rubble after Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 26, 2023. AP Photo

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  Mourning the Kotz family at their funeral in Gan Yavne, Israel, on October 17, 2023. AP Photo

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  An Israeli firefighter composes himself after he and his colleagues extinguished cars set on fire by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 9, 2023. AP Photo

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  Palestinians with the wreckage of an Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of the city of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas forces swept unopposed into Israel. AP Photo

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  Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. AP Photo