The Israeli military has accused Human Rights Watch (HRW) of “anti-Israel bias and factual distortion” after the NGO said in a report that Israel’s deliberate mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza amounts to a “crime against humanity.”
The 154-page report, published by the US-based group on Thursday, details more than 13 months of widespread destruction in Gaza that, according to the UN, has led to the displacement of around 1.9 million Palestinians – more than 90% of the territory’s population.
The IDF has denied the accusations, claiming the report is “deeply misleading” in portraying the military’s “efforts to minimize civilian harm as tools for forcible displacement.”
The report, which featured interviews with dozens of displaced Palestinians, analyzed satellite imagery and the execution of 184 evacuation orders. The IDF claimed the document was consistent with a “long-standing pattern of anti-Israel bias and factual distortion,” according to the Times of Israel.
While the IDF insists that the evacuation warnings were issued “in accordance with international law,” the NGO found that they had been “inconsistent, inaccurate, and frequently not communicated to civilians with enough time to allow evacuations.”
“The Israeli government cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cuts off food, water, and sanitation,” said Nadia Hardman, a HRW refugee and migrant rights researcher.
“Israel has blatantly violated its obligation to ensure Palestinians can return home, razing virtually everything in large areas.”
According to the IDF, however, the report “selectively presents information in a manner that obscures context, as well as makes certain blatant misrepresentations.”
HRW, which received $100 million from George Soros in 2010, also accused the Israeli authorities of blocking “all but a small fraction of the necessary humanitarian aid, water, electricity, and fuel from reaching civilians in need,” as well as carrying out attacks that have damaged and destroyed vital resources such as hospitals and bakeries.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed on social media that HRW’s report had relied on “Hamas-controlled sources,” while “Israel’s efforts are directed solely at dismantling Hamas’ terror capabilities and not at the people of Gaza.”
Israel began its operation in Gaza in response to a cross-border incursion by Hamas in October 2023, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. At least 43,000 people have reportedly been killed in the subsequent intensive bombardments and ground invasion by the IDF.