While fighting continued in Gaza and Lebanon on Thursday, Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report said Israeli officials who have repeatedly displaced and relocated civilians are "committing the war crime of forcible transfer," and the actions "appear to also meet the definition of ethnic cleansing" in the areas where Palestinians will not be able to return.
"Human Rights Watch found that forced displacement has been widespread, and the evidence shows it has been systematic and part of a state policy. Such acts also constitute crimes against humanity," the report said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military or foreign ministry, but Israeli authorities have previously said their military actions are in compliance with international laws.
The law of armed conflict forbids the forcible displacement of civilian populations from occupied territory, unless necessary for the security of civilians or imperative military reasons.
Israel has said the displacement is necessary to keep civilians safe from fighting or to achieve military objectives.
"The Israeli government cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cuts off food, water, and sanitation," said Human Rights Watch researcher Nadia Hardman in a news release accompanying the report. "Israel has blatantly violated its obligation to ensure Palestinians can return home, razing virtually everything in large areas."
Hardman noted the report's findings are based on interviews with displaced Gazans, satellite imagery, and public reporting conducted until August 2024.
Airstrikes in Gaza, Lebanon
An Israeli strike on a home in northern Gaza killed three children, among at least six people killed in the territory, Palestinian medics said.
An airstrike hit the southern suburbs of Beirut Thursday after an Israeli warning to evacuate parts of the Hezbollah bastion, Agence France-Presse reported.
Shortly before the strike, Israel had issued a warning to residents to evacuate their homes.
"You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests against which the (Israeli military) will operate in the near future," army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that included a map identifying buildings in the areas.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app Thursday, Israel Defense Forces said the air force struck and dismantled more than 140 Hezbollah launchers in southern Lebanon and had killed two battalion commanders and a company commander.
"Over the past week, the IDF eliminated over 200 Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon from the air and ground," the post stated.
On Wednesday, six Israeli soldiers were killed in combat near the border with Lebanon.
The soldiers "fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement. Their deaths mean 47 Israeli troops have been killed in combat with Hezbollah since September 30, when Israel sent ground forces into Lebanon.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, although about one-third of them are believed to be dead.
Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas militants.
The war spread to Lebanon in mid-September, after months of rocket fire from Hezbollah into Israel and drone and airstrikes by Israel's military in south Lebanon escalated. More than 3,200 Lebanese have been killed, most of them in the past six weeks.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.
Information from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse was used in this report.
