PARIS: Amnesty International has urged a war crimes investigation into Israel razing houses and farms in eastern Gaza to extend a so-called buffer zone between Israel and the Palestinian territory. It said that using bulldozers and explosives, the Israeli army has illegally destroyed agricultural land and civilian compounds, razing entire neighborhoods, including schools, homes, and mosques.
According to the Amnesty International the levelling since the start of the conflict on October 7 should be probed as war crimes of cruel destruction and of collective punishment. The group said that Israel has in many cases stated that it was destroying infrastructure to protect Israeli communities living on the other side of the barrier. However, Israel did not reply to a request from Amnesty International for comment.
Amnesty International and Israel
An Amnesty International probe, which examined satellite imagery and footages uploaded by Israeli forces between October and May, showed newly cleared area along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from about 1 to 1.8 km wide,” the group stated. It said that the expanded buffer zone covers about 58 square kilometers of Gaza. It added that over 90 percent of compounds within that zone appeared to have been completely destroyed or damaged.
Israel’s military campaign against Gaza has killed over 40,800 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry. According to the UN rights office most of the dead are children and women.
