Since March 2, Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza, including water, food and medical supplies.
The Israeli government’s plan to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population into a tiny area would “amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Thursday.
“Israel’s latest plan should finally, at long last, shake London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and Washington to their core.”
In today’s Daily Brief, @astroehlein discusses Israel’s plan to “destroy” Gaza: pic.twitter.com/pJpaj9VsVa
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) May 15, 2025
Since March 2, Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza, including water, food and medical supplies.
Israeli authorities “have reportedly decided on a plan that would include ‘flatten(ing)’ buildings and displacing Gaza’s entire population into a single ‘humanitarian area’ if no ‘deal’ with Hamas is reached by mid-May 2025,” HRW said in a statement.
“Hearing Israeli officials flaunt plans to squeeze Gaza’s 2 million people into an even tinier area while making the rest of the land uninhabitable should be treated like a five-alarm fire in London, Brussels, Paris, and Washington,” said Federico Borello, HRW interim executive director. “Israel’s blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination.”
States Urged ‘To Do More’
HRW said the dire humanitarian situation stemming from the unlawful blockade and plans to escalate forced displacement and widespread destruction demand a more robust response from other governments and institutions, especially the United States, France, Germany, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
The Israeli government’s plan to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate Palestinians into a tiny area would amount to an abhorrent escalation of its ongoing crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide. https://t.co/kY5mcF6DDq pic.twitter.com/TlvQZzyu7Z
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) May 15, 2025
The rights organization called on all parties to the Genocide Convention “to do more to prevent further atrocities, including ending weapons sales, military assistance, and diplomatic support to Israel, imposing targeted sanctions on Israeli officials, and reviewing and considering suspending bilateral agreements.”
‘Gideon’s Chariots’
In early May, HRW pointed out, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a plan dubbed “Gideon’s Chariots,” which it says could start as soon as US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region concludes on May 16.
The plan “involves forcibly displacing much of the Palestinian population of Gaza while seizing and occupying the territory,” HRW stated.
Israel’s new Gaza operation should be called ‘Chariots of Genocide’ https://t.co/CIDjqaBqE3.
— Gideon Levy (@gideonle) May 15, 2025
The organization quoted Netanyahu as having said on May 5 that “There will be no in-and-out, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric reportedly said Israel is “finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.”
The Finance Minister, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry and sits on the security cabinet.
Smotrich, who has said that Gaza will be “completely destroyed” and its Palestinian population will “leave in great numbers to third countries,” also suggests these plans should not be adjusted, even if the captives are released, HRW emphasized.
‘Duty to Prevent’
The organization said that when coupled with the systematic destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and water and sanitation facilities, as well as the use of starvation as a weapon of war—acts that amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity including extermination, and acts of genocide—these plans trigger the “duty to prevent” under the Genocide Convention.
“For the 153 states that are parties to it, the duty to prevent genocide arises as soon as a state learns, or should normally have learned, of a serious risk that genocide may be committed,” HRW stated.
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It pointed out that a “definitive determination that genocide is already underway is not required,” as Human Rights Watch set out in an April 2025 intervention in a case currently before the UK courts challenging the UK government’s decision to continue to license military equipment used by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Israel and the United States, HRW said, are advancing a new plan to use private military contractors to provide aid only to certain parts of Gaza.
In a May 4 joint statement, the UN and aid groups operating in Gaza warned that the plan won’t reach the most vulnerable, “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic,” and “will further entrench forced displacement.”
States’ Responsibility
The Genocide Convention obligates states parties to “employ all means reasonably available to them, so as to prevent genocide so far as possible,” HRW stated.
States that are party to the 1948 Genocide Convention, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, “risk legal liability for failing to act to prevent genocide in Gaza,” it emphasized.
Aid Blocked, Hospitals Crippled: WHO Urges Immediate Access to Gaza
HRW stated that the United Nations has warned that Gaza is facing “its worst humanitarian crisis since the beginning of hostilities.”
It said the world’s foremost experts on food insecurity, the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC), said on May 12 that there is a “high risk” that famine will occur in Gaza in the coming weeks, with one in five people likely to face starvation.
‘Worst Hunger Crisis’
While the World Health Organization said on May 11 that Gaza is experiencing “one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” citing a Gaza Ministry of Health report that at least 57 children have died from malnutrition in Gaza since the blockade began.
One in five Palestinians in Gaza faces acute hunger, with half a million nearing starvation as the entire besieged enclave faces food insecurity, says IPC.
Here are other key numbers from their report. pic.twitter.com/MH1YWz7gfv
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 12, 2025
HRW also highlighted that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated in mid-April that Israel’s “policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza.” At the same time, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “As long as our hostages are dying in tunnels, there is absolutely no reason to allow even a gram of food or aid.”
Review Agreements with Israel
Governments should also immediately review bilateral agreements with Israel, including the EU-Israel Association agreement, which identifies “respect for human rights and democratic principles” as an “essential element” of the agreement, HRW said.
Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, and Sweden support such a review, it noted.
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Both the UK-Israel Trade Partnership Agreement and the UK’s 2030 roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations should be revised, including removing provisions that shield or attempt to shield Israel from accountability, HRW said.
“States that are party to the Genocide Convention committed themselves not just to punish genocide, but also to prevent it from taking place,” Borello said. “Failing to act to stop Israeli authorities from starving civilians in Gaza and further rendering it unlivable flies in the face of the very purpose of the convention.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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