Samir Zaqout, Deputy Head of the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, stated that what is happening in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City is merely a new episode in the series of genocidal acts carried out by the occupation against Palestinians for nearly two years. He emphasized that the current operation is an extension of the comprehensive destruction, forced displacement, and targeting of civilians and infrastructure that occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, Khan Younis, and Rafah. Zaqout explained in a special press statement to Shehab News Agency that the occupation forces follow a scorched earth policy through mass killings, destruction of homes and institutions, and the use of starvation and aid as weapons of war. He confirmed that these practices constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, documented daily in reports by various United Nations agencies, which accurately describe the organized targeting of the population.

He added that the occupation is encouraged to continue its crimes due to a sense of impunity resulting from the lack of international accountability and the complicity of the international community, including some countries’ refusal to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against occupation leaders. Zaqout considered the silence of the international community and the abandonment of legal obligations stipulated in the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Prevention Convention as direct complicity in the continuation of these crimes. He added, “Today we witness in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood an ethnic cleansing operation, forced displacement, and systematic destruction that renders the area uninhabitable, in a scene repeated from one neighborhood to another and from one city to another in the Gaza Strip,” calling for urgent and serious international action to stop the genocide and hold those responsible accountable.

Hebrew media reported on Friday that the Israeli occupation army received orders to prepare for an invasion of the remaining parts of Gaza City, as part of the genocide it has been committing in the Gaza Strip for 22 months. The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth stated that “after a week of the cabinet’s approval of the plan to occupy Gaza City, the Israeli army received orders to prepare for a possible ground entry.” The newspaper clarified that “this step is not expected to be implemented before next September, during which the Israeli forces continue their planned routine work, with possible changes in the army’s weekly schedules in preparation for the expected ground operation.” On Thursday, the newspaper said the Israeli army intends to call up between 80,000 and 100,000 reserve soldiers to participate in its potential operation to occupy Gaza City.

On Wednesday, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir approved the “central idea” of the plan to re-occupy the entire Gaza Strip, including attacking the Al-Zaytoun area south of Gaza City, which began on Tuesday. A week ago, the Israeli government approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to re-occupy the entire Gaza Strip, which sparked global criticism and internal protests, considered a “death sentence” for the detainees.