Do these images show the Israeli army displacing the population of northern Gaza?

In the middle of the rubble in northern Gaza, thousands of Palestinians form long lines, crushed under bags and cans of water. Since Saturday, October 19, numerous videos have shown large population movements, and have questioned the international community about what the Israeli army is seeking to accomplish in this area of ​​the enclave that it has been besieging since October 6. The armed forces of the Jewish state then ordered “evacuation” of all civilians in the region to the South, while issuing ultimatums to three of the hospitals still in service there. Since then, international organizations and chancelleries have been alarmed by the low supply of humanitarian aid from the North and a very real risk of faminewhich is now coupled with these images of a displacement of Palestinians from an entire part of Gaza.

This ground operation in northern Gaza is the IDF’s third ground incursion into the area, again with the claimed objective of preventing the “restoration of the terrorist infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hamas”. Videos and press releases released by the Israeli army and the armed wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam brigades, report violent clashes. For several weeks, the entire North has been the target of Israeli bombings, including against schools and hospitals.

Israeli armored vehicles visible around the groups

Images of these massive displacements began to be broadcast by the Israeli army on October 19, and have been daily since then. They were geolocated in the neighboring towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, in the heart of the area where the Israeli army operates. More precisely around the schools which adjoin the Indonesian Hospital (ici, icisecond video iciet ici), but also 1.5 kilometers further southwest for this wide line (ici), and 500 meters further west for this drone shot (ici), towards Kamal Adwan Hospital. In four out of five videos, Israeli armored vehicles are visible around groups of people, as well as in various amateur videos.

Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking IDF communicator who has been punctuating evacuation orders in Beirut and Gaza since the start of the war, asserted on October 19 that “Sinwar’s barrier of fear (Hamas leader killed Friday October 18, editor’s note) is broken: after constant pressure, hundreds of civilians begin to leave Jabalia. (…) Yesterday evening, after the forces of the 162nd division worked against saboteurs and terrorist structures in the Jabalia region, hundreds of civilians began to evacuate the area. He insists that “during the operations, the IDF allowed civilians to safely evacuate the area via organized routes, as hundreds of people have left the area so far.”

His message is accompanied by images of the entrance to the Hamad school, in the Beit Lahia district. We see five Israeli armored vehicles surrounding Palestinians. Men, some visibly young, walk with their hands in the air towards a group already seated. Two are in wheelchairs. Still in the same publication, the soldier claims that the Israeli army has “arrested a number of saboteurs who were members of terrorist organizations and detained them for investigation.”

It is not clear whether this is a control or whether all the men are taken prisoner, as was the case in similar operations carried out a year ago by the Israeli army, and that CheckNews had documented. Several Palestinian sources, including Al-Jazeera was echoed in particular on Monday October 21, mentioning a gender separation at Israeli checkpoints, which would lead to the arrest of “dozens” of men. According to a statement from the Israeli army released on Wednesday, 150 terrorists were arrested.

School that housed refugees destroyed

Different photos show this massive campaign of arrests of men in the area. Especially those shared on Tuesday on Telegram by Amit Segal, journalist for Israeli public television, which show dozens of men in white outfits, blindfolded and with their hands tied, still surrounded by Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles. The scene always takes place in the same school. Note that during similar operations in December 2023, the Israeli army clarified that only some of these men arrested were actually combatants. When contacted, the Israeli army did not respond to our questions on the subject.

What is certain is that the Israeli operation is accompanied by the destruction of at least one of the places where the images mentioned were taken: Hamad school. The complex housed refugees until the arrival of Israeli troops. Images, spotted on Israeli military accounts by Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, indeed show the school building on fire behind Israeli soldiers.

The building was not yet blackened by the flames in the images released by the Israeli army on Sunday. Two days later, we see him partially charred in the prisoner video broadcast by Amit Segal, as well as in the one published by the Israeli army spokesperson on Wednesday. The burning of the schools was also corroborated by caregivers from the nearby hospital (whose generators were reportedly affected by the flames), interviewed by Reuters mardi.

International concern

In his most recent statement, dated October 23, the Arabic-speaking IDF spokesperson gives the figure of “20,000 Palestinians who left the Jabalia region” (the inhabitants of northern Gaza number in the hundreds of thousands), while evoking increased Israeli military pressure against Hamas. A situation described as “the lifting of the siege imposed by Hamas” on the area, which would seek to prevent civilians from leaving.

As CheckNews wrote, the terrorist organization actually called on October 6 “citizens of northern Gaza to ignore Israeli threats”. However, the testimonies collected by different media such as CNN or the Israeli-Palestinian media +972 since the start of the siege describe incidents in which civilians seeking to evacuate the north were targeted by Israeli forces.

The questions raised by this vast population movement are not limited to the images broadcast in recent days. They are part of the continuity of an international concern increasingly openly expressed around Israeli action in the north of Gaza. And this a week after the publication in the press of a letter addressed by the Biden administration to the Israeli government, which then deplored a collapse of humanitarian aid to Gaza, demanding from the country a significant improvement within 30 days, otherwise the United States would suspend part of its military aid to Israel.

But today, concerns are no longer limited to the delivery of food, water and fuel. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, declared Tuesday October 22“After several days of military action, the reports from northern Gaza are horrific. Human suffering due to inflicted famine (by Israel’s decisions) and forced displacement is unjustifiable. Words that resonate with those broadcast on October 20 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This one “increasingly concerned about the manner in which the Israeli army is conducting hostilities in northern Gaza,” which could in particular “result in the destruction of the Palestinian population in the (northernmost Gaza) governorate, through death and (forced displacement).”

Annexation desires

In an article published Monday evening, the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the doubts of American diplomats and the main European countries as to the intentions of the Jewish State, which denies (publicly and to the latter) wanting to empty the North of its civilian population. One of these diplomats, interviewed by the newspaper, reported: “The first time the IDF entered this area, we understood that Israel had to act against Hamas. The second time, we expressed our reservations and said that without a diplomatic plan for the next day, Israel will have to go back again and again. This time the answer is different. We are really concerned that Israel is doing something very dangerous, which is categorically prohibited by international law.”

These fears more or less explicitly echo the “generals’ plan” or “Eiland plan”, a military option formulated by retired Israeli officers which proposes to eradicate Hamas by besieging northern Gaza to cut off aid. humanitarian, and thus push the terrorist organization to “surrender or starve.” If the project is supported by several ministers, the government of the Jewish state refuses to carry it out. Just like possible attempts to annex part of Gaza, which Benjamin Netanyahu has refuted in May and July. But that some of his ministers openly supported during a conference organized Monday on the border between Gaza and Israel.