Five months into Israel’s battle on Gaza, the Israeli authorities has “lost all credibility” in its claims to guard civilians within the besieged territory, a UN human rights skilled has stated, interesting for an pressing finish to the “dehumanisation of displaced Palestinians”.

Paula Gaviria Betancur, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of internally displaced individuals (IDPs), stated Israel has used its evacuation orders to forcibly transfer and confine civilians in “unliveable conditions” and that any assault on Gaza’s Rafah metropolis, the place some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, would pressure individuals to flee to “conditions of certain death”.

“Although Rafah has already come under periodic attack by Israeli forces, a full-scale ground assault would lead to unimaginable suffering,” Gaviria Betancur stated.

“Any evacuation order imposed on Rafah under the current conditions, with the rest of Gaza lying in ruins, would be in flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, forcing people to flee to conditions of certain death – deprived of food, water, healthcare, and shelter,” the skilled stated.