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Middle East conflict

UN slams Israeli evacuation order in Gaza as 'international crime'

It is also stressed that the systematic or large-scale bombing of residential buildings and civilian objects is strictly prohibited under international law

GENEVA, November 8. /TASS/. UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal (US) has called the Israeli authorities' order to evacuate Gaza residents from the north to the south of the enclave an "international crime."

The expert pointed out that "core international human and humanitarian law norms are brazenly breached" by Israel ordering to evacuate more than a million people from the northern part of the Gaza Strip to the southern part under a blockade and without providing adequate housing and humanitarian aid. "These actions by Israel constitute international crimes," Rajagopal said.

"Carrying out hostilities with the knowledge that they will systematically destroy and damage civilian housing and infrastructure, rendering an entire city - such as Gaza city - uninhabitable for civilians is a war crime," the expert noted. He recalled that the systematic or large-scale bombing of residential buildings and civilian objects is strictly prohibited under international law. "Such acts amount to war crimes and when directed against a civilian population, they also amount to crimes against humanity," the special rapporteur stressed.

Rajagopal recalled that "attacks by Israel on targets within Gaza have destroyed or damaged 45% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip." He pointed out that "civilian housing in Israel is also not a military object - launching indiscriminate rocket attacks on them from Gaza or elsewhere is a war crime."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.

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