36 Israeli strikes in Gaza killed only women and children, says UN
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Expanding Israeli evacuation orders are resulting in the “forcible transfer” of people into ever-shrinking spaces in the Palestinian territory.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Geneva – The United Nations on April 11 said its analysis of 36 recent Israeli strikes in Gaza showed only women and children were killed and decried the human cost of the war.
The UN rights office also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the “forcible transfer” of people into ever-shrinking spaces in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani warned the military strikes across Gaza were “leaving nowhere safe”.
Between March 18 and April 9, “there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people”, she told reporters in Geneva.
“In some 36 strikes, about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children,” she said.
“Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women, according to information recorded by our office,” she added.
Ms Shamdasani cited an April 6 strike on a residential building of the Abu Issa family in Deir al Balah, which reportedly killed one girl, four women and one four-year-old boy.
She highlighted that even the areas where Palestinians were being instructed to go
“Despite Israeli military orders instructing civilians to relocate to the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, strikes continued on tents in that area housing displaced people, with at least 23 such incidents recorded by the office since March 18,” she said.
Ms Shamdasani referred to a March 31 order by the Israeli military covering all of Rafah, the southernmost governorate in Gaza, followed by a large-scale ground operation.
Israel has said its troops are seizing “large areas” in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants.
“Large areas are being seized and added to Israel’s security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on April 9.
“Let us be clear, these so-called evacuation orders are actually displacement orders, leading to displacement of the population of Gaza into ever shrinking spaces,” Ms Shamdasani said.
“Permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territories amounts to forcible transfer, which is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and it is a crime against humanity.” AFP
