TRANSCRIPT
The forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza to an extent that constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity.
That's the charge against Israel from Human Rights Watch.
The law of armed conflict forbids the forcible displacement of civilian populations from occupied territory, unless necessary for the security of civilians or for imperative military reasons.
Adam Coogle, from Human Rights Watch, says the displacement of Palestinians is likely planned to be permanent in the buffer zones and security corridors, which he says amounts to ethnic cleansing.
"Israel claims that it set up an evacuation system to allow Palestinians, civilians in Gaza, to seek safety. But in order to move a civilian population certain conditions must be met. First of all, it has to be temporary. It can only be until the hostilities are completed. Number two, civilians have to be directed to safer areas where their basic humanitarian needs are met. And thirdly, the civilians can only be evacuated if it's a dire military necessity. And on all three of these, our report and documentation shows that Israel has failed to meet the burden. Therefore they are committing forced displacement. And because it's pursuant to a state policy, it is a crime against humanity."
He says it's time for other countries to speak up and to cut off weapons supplies to Israel.
"In order to respond to the situation in Gaza, Human Rights Watch is calling on third countries to publicly condemn Israel's forced displacement and crimes against humanity. HRW is also calling on countries to cut off weapon supplies to Israel, suspend weapon sales, as well as to impose targeted sanctions against authorities who are responsible for ongoing violations. In addition, we believe that the International Criminal Court prosecutor should investigate forced displacement in Gaza."
The Israeli military has denied trying to create permanent buffer zones and has accused Human Rights Watch of “anti-Israel bias and factual distortion”.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says Palestinians displaced from their homes in northern Gaza would be allowed to return at the end of the war.
In other developments, Australia has joined 155 other countries to back a U-N resolution to recognise the permanent sovereignty over their natural resources of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan.
Seven countries voted against the resolution, including the United States, Canada and Israel.
Eleven abstained.
The UN General Assembly will now be asked to consider the draft resolution.
Education Minister Jason Clare told Channel 7 action needs to be taken to put an end to the suffering.
"You can't bomb your way to peace. I think the last 12 months have shown us that. The bombing has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, in Lebanon, more than a thousand people murdered in Israel as well. What this is about is building momentum to a two-state solution. We need to end the killing and start the talking."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the vote reflects international concerns about Israeli actions that impede access to natural resources, and ongoing settlement activity, land dispossession, demolitions and settler violence against Palestinians.
The Zionist Federation of Australia says it's alarmed by the federal government's actions, describing it as an abandonment of Australia's ally at the very time it is fighting an existential, multi-front war against Iran and its proxies.
The Federation says the vote signals a troubling detachment from reality that puts Australia out of step with key allies, including the United States and Canada.
Israel has struck a number of residential buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and there are reports of 15 deaths and 16 people wounded.
Israeli army radio says the targets of the attack in Damascus were a headquarters of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and what it described as other assets, without elaborating.
Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year's October 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli territory that sharply escalated the Middle East conflict.
And in Gaza, the Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 24 people in the past 24 hours.
Sirens sound in the northern Israeli city of Haifa as cross-border conflict with Hezbollah continues.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets towards Haifa, and Israeli warplanes have struck Beirut's southern suburbs, and killed 33 people elsewhere in the country.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on October 8 last year in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.
Since then, the country's Health Ministry has reported more than 3,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 14,200 wounded.
In Israel, 76 people have been killed, including 31 soldiers.
