Israel expanding forced displacement policies to empty Gaza: Rights group

A Gaza-based human rights organization has warned that Israel has been systematically destroying the remaining homes in the coastal strip while expanding forced displacement policies. 

The Gaza Human Rights Center said Israeli occupying forces had increasingly relied on a pattern in which residents receive phone calls ordering them to evacuate remaining homes before those structures were subsequently bombed or destroyed.

The organization warned that telephone warnings and evacuation notices do not remove legal responsibility or grant legitimacy to attacks on civilian infrastructure.

It said such measures function as tools of intimidation, mass destruction and forced displacement.

The center noted that many of the targeted buildings had already sustained damage from earlier attacks, leaving families with increasingly few shelter options.

The rights organization said current estimates indicate approximately 90 percent of Gaza’s buildings have already been destroyed during the genocidal war.

It argued that the pattern does not reflect isolated incidents but rather forms part of a broader long-term strategy targeting Gaza’s residential environment.

The center said it had growing concerns over expanding destruction and displacement in central Gaza, particularly around areas east of the al-Bureij and al-Maghazi camps, as well as continuing bulldozing activity east of Deir al-Balah.

Field teams documented the destruction of entire residential blocks in the Nuseirat, al-Bureij and al-Maghazi camps between May 20 and May 22.

The organization described the documented incidents and thousands of similar cases as part of a continuing process involving the destruction of conditions necessary for civilian life.

The warning came as newly released aerial images revealed extensive destruction across Rafah and Khan Yunis amid continuing Israeli bombardment.

Separate aerial imagery published Saturday offered additional visual evidence of large-scale destruction across southern Gaza.

Images taken through Google Earth Pro also showed entire sections of Rafah and Khan Yunis flattened, with extensive areas appearing almost completely erased.

Homes, schools and service facilities were among the structures no longer visible in the latest images.

Observers said the images reflected a repeated pattern of widespread destruction extending beyond isolated targets and affecting entire urban areas, particularly Rafah.

Nearly two million Palestinians now live in tents, beside rubble or inside damaged structures no longer considered safe for habitation.

The organization said ongoing demolitions and repeated displacement orders were creating conditions that could force Palestinians from large parts of the Strip.

The center further warned that areas where Palestinians are still permitted to remain have continued shrinking and now account for only around 35 percent of the blockaded region’s total territory.

Rights advocates warned that shrinking civilian zones may facilitate broader displacement plans inside Gaza.

Legal experts cited in the reports said the scale and repetition of destruction could raise
serious questions under international humanitarian law.

The Israeli genocide has already left about 73,000 Palestinians killed, over 171,000 wounded, and caused widespread destruction.

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