ICSPR Forced Displacement in Gaza and the Northern Strip is a War Crime and an Israeli Plan to Empty the Land of Its People
Date: 28 August 2025
Press Release
ICSPR: Forced Displacement in Gaza and the Northern Strip is a War Crime and an Israeli Plan to Empty the Land of Its People
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) is following with grave concern the recent statement issued by the Israeli occupation army regarding its claims of the existence of so-called “empty and safe areas” in the southern Gaza Strip, and its alleged intention to “provide humanitarian assistance.” ICSPR affirms that this statement is nothing more than a blatant attempt to mislead international public opinion and cover up Israel’s systematic plan to destroy what remains of Gaza City and the northern Strip, forcibly displace their residents, and impose new realities on the ground that inflict immense harm on civilians. This plan pushes Gaza towards becoming uninhabitable, turning it into a space of death and destruction, and creating a new Nakba by emptying the Strip of its people and forcing them to migrate abroad by every possible means.
ICSPR stresses that the displaced are living through an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. Since the beginning of the comprehensive aggression in October 2023, Israeli occupation forces have forcibly displaced more than 1.9 million Palestinians inside the Strip. Many of them have been displaced more than ten times, under conditions that lack the minimum requirements for life. The displacement process has become a coercive decision fraught with risks, whose costs are not limited to thousands of dollars per family (estimates exceeding $2,000, including transportation, tents, and rent for apartments or storage units, as most landlords have raised prices to exploit people’s desperate need for any shelter — thereby adding catastrophic burdens on displaced families in securing basic humanitarian needs). It also entails severe psychological and social breakdown, loss of personal safety, and the fragmentation of the social fabric.
ICSPR highlights that Gaza is facing a catastrophic shortage of shelter and tents. UN reports indicate a deficit of more than 90% in available shelter, with a need for over 250,000 tents and caravans. Most existing tents are worn out and unusable after more than two years of use, leaving hundreds of thousands of families exposed and without shelter.
At the same time, the displaced are enduring tragic living conditions marked by food shortages, scarcity of potable water, lack of healthcare, spread of diseases and epidemics, and the denial of education to hundreds of thousands of children.
ICSPR affirms that the systematic policy of forced displacement constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It also falls within the scope of genocide crimes aimed at uprooting the Palestinian people from their land. This policy flagrantly contradicts the obligations of the occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forced transfer of populations. Accordingly, and based on its legal and human rights responsibilities, ICSPR demands the following:
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Urgent international action to reject the Israeli narrative that alleges the existence of “safe zones,” while affirming that all areas of the Strip are targeted by bombardment and unfit for shelter. Immediate and serious efforts are required to stop the destruction of what remains of Gaza City and to halt the forced displacement of Gaza’s northern residents to central and southern areas, while intensifying efforts to end genocide and famine.
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Calling upon third states, the United Nations and its institutions, particularly the Security Council and the General Assembly, to urgently intervene to protect Palestinian civilians and prevent the completion of the forced displacement plan.
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Urging the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to accelerate investigations, particularly into crimes of forced displacement, genocide, and the targeting of civilians, and to issue additional arrest warrants against all Israeli officials and their accomplices.
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Calling on the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to uphold their obligations, including imposing sanctions and halting the supply of weapons and political support to the occupation, in order to stop the aggression, save hundreds of thousands of civilian lives, and prevent a new Nakba.
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Forming an urgent international coalition to deploy an international protection force to the Gaza Strip to safeguard civilians, ensure the permanent and unconditional opening of border crossings for humanitarian aid, enable recovery and reconstruction, lift the blockade, and ultimately bring an end to the Israeli occupation.
The continuation of international silence and Arab and Islamic inaction in the face of these crimes amounts to a green light for the occupation to persist in its policies of genocide, displacement, and starvation. This only worsens the suffering of over 2.3 million Palestinians facing slow death in the Gaza Strip, where life equals death, and the displaced cry out: “Where do we go?”
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The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR)
