GAZA, (PIC)
The Gaza Center for Human Rights has condemned Israel’s continued expansion of the “Yellow Line” in eastern Gaza, saying the move reflects a systematic policy to impose new facts on the ground by force, evade ongoing understandings and consolidate military control over additional areas of the territory.
In a statement on Monday, the center said its field team documented Israeli forces expanding the Yellow Line in the ِAl-Shuja’iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, toward the Souq Al-Bastat area by moving yellow concrete blocks, further tightening military restrictions on residents.
The center also reported the presence of two Israeli military bulldozers and a tank beyond the Yellow Line in the Barbera/Al-Shakoush area of Al-Mawasi, Rafah. It said the bulldozers began leveling agricultural land while intermittent gunfire was directed toward tents sheltering displaced Palestinians.
The group warned that repeated gunfire by Israeli occupation forces and affiliated armed militias toward tents in the area appeared aimed at pushing residents to leave.
It said these steps coincided with the Peace Council’s announcement that it was ready to launch the first so-called humanitarian shelter centers in Rafah, warning that such centers could be used to reshape Gaza’s demographic situation by confining residents to specific areas, dividing the territory geographically and forcing civilians to move under military pressure.
The center also condemned Israel’s repeated targeting of water-related infrastructure, describing it as part of a policy of turning thirst into a weapon of war.
It said Israeli aircraft bombed a metal workshop in Gaza City on Sunday evening that was used to prepare equipment for drilling water wells, killing four Palestinians and wounding others. Warplanes later struck the same site again, causing widespread damage to residential buildings and shops and injuring more civilians.
The rights group explained that the targeting of well-drilling workshops and equipment was part of an Israeli effort to cripple attempts to address Gaza’s worsening water crisis, as more than two million Palestinians face one of the most severe shortages of water in the territory’s history.
According to the center, water production has fallen to about half its prewar level, less than half of Gaza’s population receives water through public networks, and network losses have risen to around 65% because of widespread destruction.
It said the average daily water share per person has dropped to around 25 liters, while many displaced Palestinians receive less than five liters a day, far below the minimum needed for survival.
The center said the combination of expanding military zones, destroying basic necessities, targeting water sources and establishing shelter centers in areas under Israeli control reveals an integrated policy aimed at reshaping Gaza’s geographic and demographic conditions by force.
It warned that these measures create living conditions that push Palestinians toward forced displacement and amount to grave violations of international humanitarian law, including the prohibition of forcible transfer and collective punishment.
The Gaza Center for Human Rights called on the international community to urgently stop Israel’s policy of imposing facts on the ground, halt the expansion of military zones inside Gaza, protect civilian infrastructure, especially water facilities, and ensure safe access for maintenance, drilling and relief teams.
It also urged the rejection of any humanitarian arrangements or projects used as cover to redistribute the population or entrench Gaza’s geographic division.