Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1
Military Imperative and the Security Exception .......................................................................... 3
Evacuation System ...................................................................................................................4
Security Situation on Evacuation Routes and in Designated Evacuation Areas ........................... 5
Humanitarian Situation in Designated Evacuation Areas .......................................................... 6
Creation of Conditions that Prevent Return ................................................................................ 7
Forced Displacement as a Crime Against Humanity .................................................................. 8
Ethnic Cleansing ...................................................................................................................... 9
Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 12
Methodology .................................................................................................................... 16
Background ...................................................................................................................... 19
Israel's Occupation ................................................................................................................. 19
Prohibition of Forced Displacement Under IHL and the Evacuation Exception .......................... 20
Imperative Military Reason ..................................................................................................... 22
An Assessment of Israel’s Displacement of the Civilian Population ................................... 26
Buildup to the October 13 Evacuation Order ........................................................................... 26
The October 13 Evacuation Order and Israel’s Evacuation System ........................................... 29
Israel’s Harmful Evacuation System .................................................................................. 35
Reliance on Network Connections ........................................................................................... 38
Inadequacies of Online Evacuation Orders ............................................................................. 40
Errors and Confusion Over Where People Should Evacuate ...................................................... 41
Errors and Confusion Over When People Should Evacuate ....................................................... 47
Insufficient Time to Respond to Evacuation Orders ........................................................... 49
Nowhere Safe in Gaza ....................................................................................................... 55
Using the Salah al-Din Road .................................................................................................... 56
Media Coverage of Killings of Palestinians on the Move ......................................................... 64
Evacuation Areas ................................................................................................................... 66
Khan Younis ........................................................................................................................... 70
Sara: A Case Study ................................................................................................................. 74
Al-Mawasi ............................................................................................................................. 80
Rafah .................................................................................................................................... 89
Allegations of Hamas Preventing People from Fleeing .............................................................. 93
Israel’s Failure to Provide for the Displaced ...................................................................... 96
Impact on Agricultural Sector, Food Insecurity ........................................................................ 98
Impact on Electricity, Water, Sanitation ................................................................................. 102
Displaced Palestinians’ Humanitarian Situation in Their Own Words ..................................... 105
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 110
Making Forced Displacement Permanent: Widespread Destruction of Places of Origin ..... 112
Destruction of Civilian Infrastructure ......................................................................................113
Residential Buildings ............................................................................................................. 115
Agricultural Lands................................................................................................................. 119
Cultural Heritage .................................................................................................................. 120
Education Infrastructure ....................................................................................................... 122
Demolitions .......................................................................................................................... 124
Extended Buffer and Security Zones ...................................................................................... 125
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 130
Intention to Forcibly Transfer ........................................................................................... 131
Legal Obligations ............................................................................................................ 137
Forced Displacement ............................................................................................................ 137
Forcible Transfer as a Crime Against Humanity ...................................................................... 142
Right to Redress ................................................................................................................... 145
Ethnic Cleansing ................................................................................................................... 147
Investigate the Denial of the Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees as a Crime
Against Humanity ................................................................................................................. 149
Acts or Threats of Violence, the Primary Purpose of Which is to Spread Terror ......................... 151
Persecution .......................................................................................................................... 152
Wanton Destruction .............................................................................................................. 153
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... 154
Annex I: List of Evacuation Orders Analyzed for this Report .............................................. 155
Annex II: Translations of Evacuation Orders Posted to Official Israeli Military
Social Media Channels ................................................................................................... 169
