Israel dismisses HRW’s crimes against humanity claims as ‘completely false’

JERUSALEM: Israel on Thursday denied allegations by Human Rights Watch that Israeli forces had forcibly displaced Gazans and that their actions in more than a year of war amount to “crimes against humanity”.

“Time and again, Human Rights Watch’s rhetoric regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza is completely false and detached from reality,” foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said on X.

In a report published on Thursday, the New York-based rights group said it had “amassed evidence that Israeli officials are… committing the war crime of forcible transfer”.

“Statements by senior officials with command responsibility show that forced displacement is intentional and forms part of Israeli state policy and therefore amount to a crime against humanity,” Human Rights Watch added.

HRW said the 172-page report’s findings were based on interviews with displaced Gazans, satellite imagery, and public reporting conducted until August 2024.

“Contrary to claims in HRW’s report, Israel’s efforts are directed solely at dismantling Hamas’s terror capabilities and not at the people of Gaza,” said Marmorstein.

He also charged that Palestinian militant group Hamas “uses civilians as human shields and embeds terror infrastructure within residential areas”.

“Israel will continue to operate in accordance with the law of armed conflict,” the spokesman added.

According to the United Nations, 1.9 million Palestinians were displaced in Gaza as of Oct 2024. Before the start of the war on Oct 7, 2023, the territory’s official population was 2.4 million people.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas’s unprecedented attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures which includes hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 43,736 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.