Jordan's Prime Minister Safadi said on Sunday (December 10) that Israel is implementing a policy of driving Palestinians out of Gaza through war, which he called "the legal definition of genocide", but Israel denied the accusation, calling it "outrageous".
"What we are seeing in Gaza is not just the killing of innocent people and the destruction of their livelihoods, but the systematic removal of the people of Gaza," Safadi said at the Doha forum. ”
We have yet to see a clear call for an end to this war. This is a war that fits the legal definition of genocide. ”
Safadi argued that Israel's stated goal of destroying Hamas was not commensurate with the extent of the destruction inflicted on civilians in Gaza, which he described as indiscriminate.
Israel** spokesman Levy responded: "This is an outrageous and false accusation. Israel is trying to defend itself against the monsters that caused the October 7 Mass, and our aim is to bring them to justice and ensure that they never harm our people again. ”
He said Israel had been urging civilians in Gaza to withdraw from the battlefield for their own safety and would like to see others heed that call.
The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Razzarini pointed out in a commentary published in the Los Angeles Times on Saturday (9th) that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is getting worse day by day, and displaced civilians fleeing the fighting are increasingly concentrated near the border.
"The United Nations and several member states, including the United States, are firmly opposed to the forcible expulsion of Gazans from the Gaza Strip," Lazzarini said. But the developments we are witnessing indicate that Israel is trying to drive Palestinians into Egypt, whether they stay there or settle elsewhere. ”
He added that the widespread destruction of northern Gaza by Israeli forces to cause the displacement of civilians is "the first phase of this situation", while forcing civilians in the southern city of Khan Younis close to the Egyptian border is the second phase.
"If this path continues and triggers a second calamity (nakba), Gaza will no longer be Palestinian land," Lazarini said. ”
In response to the accusation, the Israeli Defense Ministry said: "Israel does not have, has not, and will never have plans to relocate Gaza residents to Egypt." This is simply not true. ”