Israel’s defense minister is preparing to establish a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of the city of Rafah.
The so called city will initially house about 600,000 Palestinians and eventually the whole 2.1 million population according to Israel Katz.
Katz said that the Palestinians wn’t be allowed to leave the ‘humanitarian city’ except for “voluntarily” emigrating to other countries
Critics of the initiative promptly have branded the “city” an internment camp and warn of potentially widespread human rights abuse.
RT reports: The “humanitarian city” is expected to initially accommodate some 600,000 Palestinians – primarily displaced persons living in the coastal Mawasi area to the northwest of Rafah, Katz told reporters on Monday. Eventually, all of the estimated 2.2 million Gazans will be placed into the “city,” which is to be secured by the Israeli military from a distance and run by unspecified international organizations, the minister stated.
The Palestinians will undergo screening before being placed into the “city” to ensure no Hamas operatives slip in, Katz noted. The scheme is ultimately designed to displace the entire Gaza population and encourage it to “voluntarily emigrate” from the enclave elsewhere, the minister admitted. Those who end up in the zone will not be allowed to return to other parts of Gaza, he added.
The defense ministry has already begun planning for the zone, according to Katz. However, the country’s authorities have made no public statements on the scheme or said whether it has actually been approved. It also remains unclear when the plan would be put into motion.
The proposed “humanitarian city” has been criticized by human rights advocates and activists, who have branded it an internal camp and warned of potential abuses. Michael Sfard, a leading Israeli human rights lawyer, called the proposed scheme “an operational plan for a crime against humanity.”
“While the government still calls the deportation ‘voluntary,’ people in Gaza are under so many coercive measures that no departure from the strip can be seen in legal terms as consensual,” Sfard told the Guardian.
The “humanitarian city” plan comes after Israel rejected Hamas’ proposed changes to a Gaza ceasefire deal. The Palestinian militant group reportedly wanted the agreement to ensure a permanent truce and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.