Israeli Gaza Displacement Order Deepens Palestinian Crisis

Abu Amer Al-Sharif and his family in Gaza City remove their belongings and household items from their home, preparing for yet another displacement.

Israel’s plan to displace around one million civilians—half of whom are already living in famine—is both impossible and illegal, Oxfam said, as the Israeli military continued to flatten Gaza City building by building. The mass forced displacement of civilians is gaining alarming momentum.

Displacement orders, dropped from the sky on leaflets or posted on social media, signal grave next steps in Gaza, where every order has preceded new waves of destruction and mass casualties. Critics describe it as part of Israel’s broader campaign of ethnic cleansing across the Strip.

Israel’s plan to concentrate one million people into just 42.8 square kilometres—less than 12 per cent of Gaza—has no basis in reality. The so-called “humanitarian area” is severely overcrowded, under-resourced, and far from most humanitarian infrastructure.

Such forced relocation is not only inhumane but physically impossible, Oxfam said, warning it would worsen disease, hunger, and violate international humanitarian law (IHL). Under IHL, civilians must be guaranteed safe passage, adequate shelter, food, water, health care, and family unity—conditions absent in Gaza.

Oxfam’s Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Ruth James said displacement orders make it “almost impossible” to deliver aid effectively. “Israel’s siege and restrictions mean people in these zones already lack basic services even before hundreds of thousands more arrive,” she warned.

Oxfam’s partner organisations are also under attack. An Israeli strike near the Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection killed a pregnant employee, a seven-year-old boy, and injured many others. Other groups fear further deaths and worsening mental health trauma.

Many residents are too weak from starvation, cannot afford transport, or refuse to move to unsafe, overcrowded areas. A survey found that while 53 per cent would comply with orders, most would stay within Gaza City rather than leave, leaving hundreds of thousands trapped under bombardment.

Oxfam called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages and unlawfully detained prisoners, and urgent large-scale delivery of food, medicine, fuel, and water.

International law—including the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute—explicitly prohibits forced transfer of civilians by an occupying power. Such acts may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the UN, at least 1.9 million people—about 90 per cent of Gaza’s population—have already been displaced during the war, many multiple times. With famine already confirmed in parts of Gaza, aid agencies warn that forced displacement will push Palestinians into an even deeper humanitarian catastrophe.