Several rights experts have warned that Israel is working to create a buffer zone along the borders of the Gaza Strip, warning that the move would amount to a war crime.
The experts made the remarks on Sunday, saying the Israeli regime has systematically destroyed buildings in the besieged enclave amid its ongoing aggression.
They also stressed that displacement of Gazans including from the border area could breach the laws of war.
Adi Ben Nun, a professor at the Hebrew University of al-Quds who has carried out an analysis of satellite imagery, said since the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out a surprise attack against the occupying entity in early October, Israeli forces have targeted structures in Gaza within a kilometer (0.6 miles) of the border.
He went on to say that more than 30 percent of all buildings in that area had been damaged or destroyed during the war.
Nadia Hardman, a refugee rights expert at Human Rights Watch, also noted that there is “mounting evidence that Israel appears to be rendering large parts of Gaza unlivable,” adding that “One very clear example of that may be the buffer zone — this may amount to a war crime.”
Cecilie Hellestveit, of the Norwegian Academy of International Law, also warned of “the prospect of ethnic cleansing, transfer, or lack of rebuilding, so that the Palestinians will eventually be forced out of the area entirely.”
Hellestveit further stated that although Israel decided against installing a buffer zone in the early 2000s, the plan was revived two decades later with the war on Gaza.
Human rights expert Ken Roth, a professor at Princeton University, also noted on social media that the Israeli regime has no right to seize land in Gaza to create a buffer zone.
The latest development comes as the Israeli media reported on Wednesday that the regime is aiming to create an informal buffer around Gaza to prevent “attackers” from reaching Israeli communities near the Strip.
However, critics warned at the time that the move was an attempt to occupy Gaza.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 27,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
