UnitedNations

The UN human rights office said on Friday it fears that Israel may intend to permanently remove civilians in Gaza as part of an expanded buffer zone, amid evacuations orders and escalating bombardment.

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip resumed mid-March following the collapse of the ceasefire and Israel’s border closure.

As it enters its sixth week, the denial of aid into the enclave has left more than 2.1 million Gazans trapped without access to food, drinking water, and basic services.

Israel in recent weeks has ramped up its attacks on civilian infrastructure such as residential buildings and camps, leaving many more dead or missing under the rubble.

Between March 18 and April 9, Israeli forces have struck housing and tents for internally displaced people (IDPs) on 224 occasions during 36 separate strikes, according to the UN rights office, OHCHR.

Vast new exclusion zones

Earlier on Friday, Israeli authorities issued two new displacement orders "covering vast areas in northern and southern Gaza," UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said at the regular noon briefing in New York.

"Together, these areas span more than 24 square kilometres – roughly the size of everything south of Central Park here in Manhattan."

Some medical facilities and storage sites containing critical supplies are located within the newly designated zones, prompting aid coordination office OCHA to warn that this could have life-threatening consequences for people in urgent need of care.

"This leaves Palestinians with less than a third of Gaza’s area to live in – and that remaining space is fragmented, it’s unsafe and it’s barely livable following 18 months of hostilities."

‘Forcible transfer’

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani also highlighted the growing trend in attacks against media workers, reporting that at least 209 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the deadly Hamas-led terror attacks of October 2023, as Israel continues to deny international media entry into the Strip.

The OHCHR spokesperson acknowledged that the temporary evacuation of civilians in certain areas can be legal, under strict conditions.

But "the nature and scope of the evacuation orders raises serious concerns that Israel intends permanently to remove the civilian population from these areas in order to create a so-called buffer zone”, she said.

“Permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territory amounts to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a crime against humanity.”

War crimes

Combatants need to demonstrate compliance with the rules of war, particularly the principles of distinction – meaning defenceless civilians should not be targeted – as well as proportionality and precaution.

“Intentionally directing attacks against civilians not taking a direct part in hostilities constitutes a war crime, further compounding the desperate conditions for Palestinian civilians,” Ms. Shamdasani said.

OHCHR has also repeatedly warned that collective punishment and the use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war, constitute crimes under international law.

Ms. Shamdasani also stressed that her office was “seriously concerned that Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza, conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group”.

Supplies pile up

With stocks of drugs sharply declining, medicines and other essential supplies have been piling up at the shuttered border crossings.

Almost 36 million tons of supplies in Dubai are on standby for entry into the enclave, according to Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, World Health Organization Representative (WHO) for the West Bank and Gaza.

Medical evacuations for patients in need of urgent treatment have slowed significantly. Likewise, the number of international emergency medical teams deployed has dropped, depriving hospitals of the help they crucially need, “because the caseload is immense”, Dr. Peeperkorn stressed.

“We urgently call for the immediate resumption of medical evacuation through all possible routes, particularly restoring the medical referral pathway to the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

In Gaza, where lack of access to water is an existential threat, Ibrahim Alloush stands out as an unsung hero, providing a lifeline to the thirsty people of the Strip.

Every day, he drives his water truck through the Strip, filling up empty tanks and vessels.

Our camera accompanied Alloush on a recent arduous mission to provide a little water to the residents of Jabalia. UN News’ correspondent met Alloush in Jabalia’s desalination plant, where he spends hours waiting for water.

Like everywhere else in Gaza, the desalination plant is overcrowded. As Gaza is running out of fuel, Alloush explained that 35 to 40 liters of diesel is needed every hour for the plant just to operate.

Hours spent waiting

At the plant, Ibrahim has to be patient: “We come to the desalination plant and wait about five hours for our turn to fill up. Water prices are very high due to production costs. People here in Gaza cannot afford water unless it is distributed by organizations, institutions, or initiatives.

“The cost of one cubic metre is very high because of how expensive diesel is, which is needed to operate the generators. One cubic metre of water can cost between 90 to 100 shekels, this is about 20 Jordanian dinars. [According to xe.com, 20 JOD is 28.20 USD or 24.82 EUR. 90-100 shekel is 24.44-27.15 USD or 21.49-23.89 EUR]”

After completing his task, Ibrahim Alloush gets into his old truck, starts its engine, and sets off on a challenging journey through the devastated neighborhoods of Jabalia.

For Alloush, the struggle does not stop at the water plant. Driving through Gaza is not easy, navigating destroyed streets and surrounded by rubble, Alloush needs to reach the people waiting for him – waiting for water.

There are always people waiting for him. It is almost impossible for trucks to reach certain areas, if it were not for Mr. Alloush, these areas would basically be lacking any supply.

No life without water

'We are suffering from a major water crisis,” says Ayman Kamal, a Gaza Strip resident. While some can wait half a day to fill up five or ten gallons of water only, others may not even be able to get water, as they were too far behind in line.

“Without water, there is no life...We wait for potable water that comes from distant areas, and people crowd to get their share,” says another resident, Fathi al-Kahlout, as he fills his bucket.

“The blockade has caused us many problems. We hope that the world will look at us, even for one day, as it looks at other countries. Everyone in other countries lives in comfort. Why are we condemned to this fate?” asked Sameer Badr, explaining that his children spend their days going back and forth in search of water.

Worsening water crisis

The continued closure of border crossings and the ban on fuel entry is paralysing desalination plants, the closure of the main water pipelines has also led to a sharp decrease in the amount of drinking water available to residents in Gaza. The water crisis is worsening, warns Children’s Fund UNICEF.

After the collapse of the ceasefire, the repair work that had been started on vital wells and water points came to a total halt, leaving many water sources either out of service or at risk of further damage.

According to UNICEF about one million people – including 400,000 children – are currently receiving a daily six-litre ration per person, a stark decrease from the previous average of 16 litres.

If fuel runs out, UNICEF warned that this amount could drop to less than four litres per day in the coming weeks, forcing families to rely on unsafe sources, significantly increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, especially among children.