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SvennoJ on 10 February 2024
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Mass evacuation in Rafah would have "catastrophic consequences," human rights organization warns

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned about the repercussions of forcibly evacuating displaced Palestinians in Rafah as Israel plans a military escalation in the southern Gaza city. “Forcing the over one million displaced Palestinians in Rafah to again evacuate without a safe place to go would be unlawful and would have catastrophic consequences," HRW refugee and migrant rights researcher Nadia Hardman said. "There is nowhere safe to go in Gaza. The international community should take action to prevent further atrocities.”

HRW said the Israeli military has a responsibility to protect civilians whether they evacuate or not. "Civilians who do not evacuate following warnings are still fully protected by international humanitarian law," HRW said. "Many civilians may be unable to heed a warning to evacuate for reasons of health, disability, fear, or lack of any place else to go."

HRW's statement comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the Israeli forces to plan for the “evacuation of the population” from Rafah, adding the Israeli military would “soon go into Rafah, Hamas’s last bastion.” 


Even our minister of foreign affairs is finally making a statement

Canada warns Israel of ‘devastating impact’ of planned offensive in Rafah

In a rare rebuke to Israel, Canada’s foreign minister has warned that its planned offensive in Rafah would be devastating for innocent people.

“We are deeply concerned by reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah. It would have devastating impact, putting the lives of Palestinians and foreign nationals, including [Canadians], seeking refuge in grave danger and making the vital delivery of humanitarian aid dangerous,” Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in a statement on X. “We continue our call for the protection of civilians, for the release of hostages, for urgent efforts toward a sustainable ceasefire and for increased humanitarian aid.”

Former US president’s non-profit joins calls for Israel to abort Rafah assault

Former US President Jimmy Carter’s non-profit has joined the chorus of voices calling on Israel to abandon its plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah. The Carter Center said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order for the military to prepare to evacuate civilians ahead of a military offensive in Rafah was “alarming” given that an estimated 1.3 million Palestinians are residing in overcrowded conditions in the previously designated safe zone.

“The Israeli government’s directive further undermines prospects for long-term peace and its citizens’ security and prosperity,” the non-profit said in a statement. “Ordering this new wave of displacement of Palestinians will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis resulting from the ongoing 126-day siege causing over 25,000 deaths, including some 12,000 children.”

‘You cannot have a war in a refugee camp,’ NGO director says as Rafah assault looms

Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has warned that Israel’s planned ground offensive on Rafah will be taking place in the world’s largest refugee camp. “Rafah has now become the largest refugee camp on earth. One million people fled here because it was supposed to be safe. They’ve joined the population which is there already,” Egeland said in an interview with the BBC.

“It’s the most crowded, it’s the largest refugee camp on earth, and you cannot have a war in a refugee camp.”

UN aid chief says people in Rafah endure ‘unthinkable suffering’

UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths also asked where the “well over 1 million people” now in Rafah are “supposed to go”, as the Israeli army readies for a ground invasion and what many believe will be a new blood bath in Gaza.

“Their homes have been destroyed, their streets mined, their neighbourhoods shelled,” Griffith said on social media.
“They’ve been on the move for months, braving bombs, disease and hunger,” he said.
“How are they supposed to stay safe?”
“There’s nowhere left to go in Gaza.”

People in Gaza fear ‘what’s coming’: UN human rights office

Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) in the occupied Palestinian territory, says the situation in Gaza is “one of the biggest human rights crises” in the world. “We see people in hospitals… desperate for medicines, medical attention. These places have been attacked. There are very few hospitals that are functioning,” Sunghay said in a video interview released by UN Human Rights.

“There are no proper shelters” as well as a scarcity of tents for the displaced, he says. "I think for the civilians, waking up in the morning and trying to feed, just one meal a day for the family, is the biggest challenge. And, really being alive because every time I ask a person how he or she is doing, all that they say [is] we’re just grateful that we are alive,” he adds. “But they are extremely worried about what’s coming.”

UN chief warns of int’l law violation if civilians forcefully displaced from Rafah

The UN secretary general has also expressed concern about what is going to happen to civilians if this ground incursion of Rafah happens. He has echoed the Arab Group’s concerns and noted, as they have, that the forced displacement of civilians is illegal under international law. This is something that has actually been stated in two UN Security Council resolutions already dealing with the situation in Gaza and calling for an increase in humanitarian aid.

[The resolution] explicitly makes the point that forced displacement is illegal under international law. So this is what we are hearing reiterated not only by the Arab Group but UN officials as they worry about attempts to evacuate so many people from Rafah. [Some]1.4 million people are there now – many of them living in the very streets that would need to be utilised to get them out of the area and out of harm’s way.

Arab Group meets at UN amid alarm over planned Israeli attack on Rafah

This was an emergency meeting of the Arab Group. A show of solidarity and an attempt to redouble their efforts and discuss strategy towards getting the UN Security Council to declare an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for Gaza. They are really concerned about the impending invasion of Rafah.

After [the] meeting, they said they were also going to be meeting with the deputy ambassador of Guyana, which now holds the presidency of the Security Council, in an attempt to redouble their efforts to get a ceasefire resolution before the Security Council. The United States has been the stumbling block towards getting that through the Council so far. They say that they are also pushing to meet with the US ambassador to again make the case that an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is necessary to prevent a huge catastrophe from happening.

What is the White House concerned about?

White House downplays Biden’s criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza

The White House has sought to downplay strong criticism levelled at Israel by President Joe Biden and a senior national security official. Biden on Thursday described Israel’s war in Gaza as “over the top” and said innocent people’s suffering has “got to stop”. Jon Finer, Biden’s deputy principal national security adviser, also expressed a “lack of confidence” in Netanyahu’s government during a meeting with Arab American community leaders, The New York Times reported.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement to the Associated Press on Friday that Biden has stressed the need for Israel to protect civilians since the start of the war and that Finer was speaking specifically about Netanyahu’s long-held opposition to a two-state solution for Palestine.

Does Biden have any real power, or is this just a spiel. Biden covering himself while the White House re-assures Israel Biden is just covering himself...

Israel providing assurances it will follow memo on international law, White House says

The White House says it has briefed Israel on a memorandum laying out standards that governments receiving US weapons should follow to uphold international law and received assurances from the Israeli side. “They reiterated their willingness to provide these types of assurances,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a reporter’s question on Friday.

“There are no new standards in this memo. We are not imposing new standards for military aid,” Jean-Pierre added. “Instead, we are spelling publicly the existing standards by the international law including the law of armed conflict.” US President Joe Biden on Thursday issued the memo amid growing concerns among Democrats over the civilian death toll of Israel’s war in Gaza, which Palestinian authorities say has killed more than 28,000 people so far.


As I showed in the previous post, Israel think simply ordering people to evacuate makes anyone left behind a Human Shield and in their eyes a valid target.

Is the international community going to prevent the looming escalation of what's already the worst humanitarian disaster this century, or are they all just covering themselves from complicity in genocide. Actually not preventing genocide is a breach of the Geneva conventions. "Obligation to prevent genocide (Article I) which, according to the ICJ, has an extraterritorial scope;"