Ordering Gaza civilians to leave Rafah 'inhumane': UN human rights chief

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN human rights chief on Monday called Israel ordering civilians to relocate from Rafah "inhumane," warning that civilian deaths, suffering, and destruction are set to "increase beyond already unbearable levels."

"Gazans continue to be hit with bombs, disease, and even famine. And today, they have been told that they must relocate yet again as Israeli military operations into Rafah scale up," Volker Turk said in a statement.

"This is inhumane," Turk stressed, underscoring that it runs contrary to the basic principles of international humanitarian and human rights law.

"Forcibly relocating hundreds of thousands from Rafah to areas which have already been flattened and where there is little shelter and virtually no access to humanitarian assistance necessary for their survival is inconceivable," said Turk, an Austrian lawyer and longtime UN official. "It will only expose them to more danger and misery."

He said that at least 26 Palestinians in Rafah were reportedly killed overnight, most of them women and children, and two crossings into Rafah – a refuge for Palestinians from across the battled-scarred Gaza Strip – were shut on Monday.

"More attacks on what is now the primary humanitarian hub in the Gaza strip are not the answer," the human rights chief said.

Turk reiterated his call for a cease-fire, adding that humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow freely into Gaza in amounts sufficient to feed the Palestinians there.

He also underlined that currently, there is "no location outside of Rafah with the infrastructure and resources to host the mass displacement of over one million people."

Forced displacements of civilians may amount to a war crime, he noted.

"Yet the experience of the past seven months (of Israeli attacks) shows Palestinians who remain in Rafah will continue to be at risk of death and injury, whether by indiscriminate bombing, unlawful killing, or loss of access to food, water and healthcare," he said. "This must not be allowed to happen."

In a step widely seen as the prelude to an offensive, the Israeli army on Monday issued urgent evacuation orders to Palestinian residents and displaced individuals in eastern Rafah, urging them to immediately relocate.

According to Israeli Army Radio, the decision to evacuate residents from eastern Rafah was taken late Sunday, with around 100,000 civilians present in the area set to be evacuated.

Since Oct. 7, the Israeli onslaught has killed nearly 34,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, besides causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided.