Senior Israeli academics have warned forcing Palestinians into a closed-off area would be legally unjustified and constitute crimes against humanity. Defense Minister Israel Katz’s proposal to build a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of the southern Gazan city of Rafah and to transfer the entire Gaza civilian population there has elicited massive criticism both from within Israel and abroad.
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said such a city would constitute a “concentration camp,” while leading Israeli experts on international law have warned implementation of the plan would constitute a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity and could lead to a form of genocide.
The Wall Street Journal reported that IDF military lawyers have told IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir that the plan would be illegal if it involved coercing Palestinian civilians into the zone and preventing them from leaving.
In a briefing to reporters last week, Katz said he had instructed the IDF and the Defense Ministry to advance plan lation of Gaza — more than 2 million people — would eventually be confined to this zone. (Read More)