to report «iusnews»; The UK-based human rights organisation said Israeli authorities must rescind the forced “evacuation” orders in Gaza, and to put an end to threats creating fear and panic amongst civilians.
“Declaring a whole city or region a military target flies in the face of international humanitarian law,” Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s senior crisis response adviser, said in a statement, adding that those carrying out attacks “must distinguish at all times between civilians or civilian objects and military objectives”, Al-Jazeera reported.
“Violating the principle of distinction by targeting civilians or civilian objects or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians is a war crime,” she added.
Moreover, the human rights group said the leaflets being dropped by the Israeli army, ordering residents to evacuate, lacked effective warnings, “suggesting Israel may be trying to forcibly displace Northern Gaza’s civilians”.
A quick reminder that Israel nearly two weeks ago told some 1.1 million residents of Northern Gaza to head South “for their safety and protection”.
At the time, Amnesty said Israel’s order may amount to forced displacement of the civilian population.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued bombarding Southern Gaza prompting many evacuees to return home.
Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Palestinian resistance movement Hamas initiated a multi-pronged surprise military operation via land, sea and air. The group announced it was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Wednesday at least 6,546 people have been killed in Israeli raids since October 7.
At least 2,704 children and over 1,584 women have been killed while 17,439 people have been wounded since fighting erupted.
The ministry added that 65 percent of those killed in Gaza this week died in the South of the enclave, which Israel has claimed is safe.
