76 years on, a second Nakba is unfolding in Gaza
Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
On 15 May 2024 Palestinians marked the 76th anniversary of the Nakba - the term depicting the profound catastrophe, leading to the near-complete devastation of Palestinian society with the establishment of Israel in 1948. The Nakba encapsulates the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, the mass killings and displacement, and the loss of homes and lands resulting in the enduring Palestinian refugee crisis. For many Palestinians, the Nakba persists – an ongoing Nabka - as Israel has since continued its policies of dispossession and expulsion in Israel and in the OPT throughout the decades since 1948. Israel has since sought to entrench the immediate implications of the Nakba through discriminatory legislation, such as the Nation-State Basic Law, which denies the Palestinian people their right to self-determination.
The War on Gaza evokes echoes of the 1948 Nakba, with scenes reminiscent of large-scale forced evacuations and migrations – thousands of people walking with what little possessions they can carry – and refugee tent cities.?However, the narrative has shifted towards characterizing the atrocities committed by the Israeli military in Gaza as genocidal, as the appalling acts of killing, displacement, and destruction over the past seven months clearly constitute?genocide.
The persistent polices of mass displacement within the Green Line were made evident by?the evacuation and demolition of the Bedouin village of Wadi al-Khalil on 8 May. This marked the most extensive incident of forced displacement in the Naqab in the past 14 years. More than 300 residents were left homeless in another instance of colonial practice of expulsion and dispossession in order to expand a highway. Israel routinely employs projects such as the establishment of roads and railways, man-made forests, and other major infrastructure plans to forcibly displace Bedouin residents from their lands and homes in the Naqab.
Israeli army expands offensive in Rafah, orders mass deportation of Palestinians
On 6 May 2024, the Israeli army ordered the Palestinians to leave Rafah in preparation for?expanding its military operations there. The offensive started with massive bombardment and the Israeli military taking control of the Rafah crossing, closing it, and halting all humanitarian aid, although most residents of Gaza are starving and have no place else to go. About 1.2 million people were sheltering in Rafah, once home to about 250,000, and as the international?bodies and state actors have?warned, an incursion into Rafah poses catastrophic risks to the civilian population.?As of 15 May, nearly 600,000 people have been displaced from Rafah after the army ordered them to evacuate to "expanded humanitarian areas", but human rights experts reiterated that there are no safe zones in Gaza. "The claim of “safe zones” is false and misleading. No place is safe in Gaza. Period,"?said the Commissioner-general of the UNRWA on 12 May 2024. Immediately after the orders to?evacuate, Adalah and other human rights organizations sent an urgent demand to Israeli officials to halt plans for mass, forced deportation of the Palestinians from Rafah, to avoid further harm to civilians, and to ensure the passage of essential humanitarian aid. The organizations argued that the forcible transfer of a population constitutes a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute, and that Israel, as an occupying power, has an obligation to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid to the population. The closing of the crossings, the groups argued, would lead to an even further starvation of civilians, which is a war crime and a crime against humanity in international law. Additionally, intensifying the bombings across Rafah would lead to the further mass killing of civilians, a crime against humanity and genocide.? South Africa also immediately submitted a further urgent request for more provisional measures to the ICJ, due to the extreme risk that Israel’s military assault on Rafah poses to the provision of humanitarian supplies, basic services, the medical system, and to the very survival of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group. South Africa pointed to evidence of “evacuation zones” being treated as “extermination zones”, the mass destruction and the mass graves being uncovered at Gaza hospitals, and the use of Israel’s military of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify kill lists, as posing urgent and irreparable harm to the rights of Palestinians.?
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Provision of crucial humanitarian aid to Gaza
The tight siege and the extensive military assault on Gaza over the past seven months has resulted in large-scale destruction of vital civilian infrastructure and severe shortages in essential supplies, creating a devastating humanitarian crisis and a looming famine for its residents. Adalah joined five human rights organizations, led by Gisha, in submitting a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court (SC) on 18 March 2024, demanding the entrance of crucial humanitarian aid to Gaza, reopening of land crossings, and provision of all the needs of the civilian population, in keeping with Israel’s obligations as the occupying power. Since the filing of the petition, the state has submitted several responses to the SC about the steps taken to increase the flow of aid to Gaza.?In its updates, Israel effectively admits to not having taken meaningful steps to prevent the deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and it fails to answer the SC’s questions, based on the petitioner’s demands, regarding its calculation of the amount of aid needed to sustain the residents of Gaza. The groups continue to contest the state’s claims that its steps are sufficient, pointing out that the evidence shows how? these claims are entirely baseless. The SC ordered the state to provide a further update by 16 May.
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Holding Israeli public figures accountable for incitement to Genocide
Since 7 October 2023, Israeli state and army officials, religious figures, journalists and influencers have openly advocated for violence and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In April 2024, Adalah sent a letter to the Israeli State Attorney, Attorney General (AG), Commissioner of Police and Minister of Justice?demanding immediate investigations into incidents of incitement and prosecution of individuals. The rhetoric endorsed by public officials, including cabinet members, reflects a state policy of deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians and sends a clear message to military personnel that they are to act accordingly. The legal authorities' failure, to date, to hold officials accountable suggests that such language and policy will persist.? In its letter, Adalah emphasized Israel's legal obligations under both international and domestic law, citing the provisional measures?issued?by the ICJ on 26 January 2024, in the case of South Africa v. Israel. This ruling specified that “Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip”. The letter details 40 statements as examples and cites?a database of instances of incitement compiled by Law for Palestine, documenting over 500 statements of incitement to genocide, including explicit calls for a repetition of the Nakba:
To date, the Israeli AG has not responded to Adalah’s letter.
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See Adalah’s Newsletter, 15 May 2024:??
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