Gaza, Srebrenica: Two Genocides Years Apart

CrossFireArabia
July 7, 2026

Israel Turns Gaza Into a Death ‘Srebrenica’ Camp

Israel is legitimising and enforcing a systematic pattern of geographic siege on Gaza, extending beyond a comprehensive blockade to include forcible internal confinement. This traps Palestinians within a small, devastated area under conditions more severe and crowded than those in the Srebrenica enclave before its fall in 1995, when genocide occurred according to the Euromedmonitor.

The Srebrenica genocide serves as a clear historical warning about the deadly impact of besieging civilians and depriving them of protection and essentials for life, particularly when these actions are part of systematic behaviour that is a core component of ongoing genocide, as seen in Gaza the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor added.

On the eve of Srebrenica’s fall in 1995, nearly 40,000 people were besieged within a roughly 150 km². Meanwhile, for most of Gaza’s approximately 2.1 million residents, the remaining habitable area has shrunk to just about 128 km².

Geographically and demographically, Gaza is now limited to an area about 15 per cent smaller than Srebrenica, but with a population over 50 times larger and a density roughly 60 times higher, all amidst rubble, waste, and a severe lack of basic living conditions.

Changing Gaza’s Landscape

Israel is changing the demographic and military landscape of the Gaza Strip by increasing its de facto control and imposing severe restrictions on roughly 65 per cent of the enclave. This action deprives over two million residents of essential resources, prevents their return to their lands and homes, and makes large parts of Gaza prohibited zones under Israeli military control. These measures effectively amount to an unlawful annexation and seizure of land the Geneva-based organization.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement to expand military control over 70 percent of Gaza highlights an aim to further settler colonialism and expel the area’s native Palestinians, as this plan would leave only about 109 km² for residents. If this occurs, the per capita share of the remaining space would decrease to approximately 52 m², and the population density would increase to about 19,300 people per km², which is roughly 72 times higher than the density in Srebrenica in 1995.

Although the numerical figures on population density are alarming, they do not fully reflect the harsh reality of the suffocating overcrowding residents face in the Gaza Strip. Much of the remaining land has been intentionally rendered uninhabitable through systematic destruction. This area is overwhelmed with large amounts of rubble from homes and civilian objects. It is filled with destroyed infrastructure and blocked roads, hindering movement, access, and humanitarian efforts. Additionally, waste, war remnants, water source contamination, sewage network collapses, and exposed land devoid of shelter or safe displacement sites further worsen the situation.

In addition to severe overcrowding, most residents live in either worn-out tents, which offer no shelter from summer heat, winter cold, or rain, or in heavily damaged houses that could collapse at any moment. These structures are at risk due to ongoing Israeli bombardments or natural elements like wind and rain the human rights organization goes on to say.

This situation poses numerous risks to hundreds of thousands of families, such as buildings collapsing on residents, fires erupting in overcrowded tent camps, and the spread of diseases due to poor sanitation, ventilation, and lack of clean water. It also deprives them of privacy and safety, particularly affecting women, children, and the elderly, as there are no safe housing options that could help residents escape this extreme overcrowding.

The residents of the Gaza Strip face a reality that deliberately subjects them to conditions intended to undermine the Palestinian population, either partially or entirely. This includes measures such as deportation or forced transfer, with efforts to legitimise and promote this displacement internationally under misleading terms like “freedom of movement” or “voluntary emigration.”

The ongoing killings, military operations, siege, and denial of sufficient food exemplify systematic actions that undermine civilian life. These include widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, effective denial of return, military seizure of large land areas, restrictions on access to medical, health, and educational services, obstruction of reconstruction, and forcing residents into areas lacking basic survival needs. Collectively, these practices convert any choice into a consequence of physical and psychological coercion by Israeli authorities. Any departure of residents from the Gaza Strip under these conditions therefore cannot be regarded as voluntary but falls under forced displacement, which is prohibited under international law.

The attempts to forcibly transfer the population are a direct continuation of Israel’s settler-colonial approach, which has persisted for decades and is based on policies aimed at erasing Palestinian history, space, and demographics, along with the systematic seizure of land. This phase is characterised by its rapid pace and broad scope, aiming to reach over two million people suffering from ongoing genocide. These individuals have been deprived of legal protection and basic survival means for nearly three years.

These systematic coercive measures, along with the dehumanisation they entail, are deliberately designed to force residents into a stark choice: either face physical extermination or be forced out of their homeland. This is not a voluntary decision, but a compulsory condition for survival, highlighting the Gaza Strip situation as a well-documented example of mass deportation and forcible transfer in modern legal history.

Fourth Geneva Convention

The international community and all states must unequivocally oppose any plans to depopulate Gaza or force residents to leave using misleading terms like “voluntary emigration” or “freedom of movement.” Such population movements, without safe options and under ongoing physical and psychological pressure, are not genuinely voluntary but are crimes of forced displacement. These are prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. When this act occurs during an ongoing genocide, it triggers all states’ responsibilities to prevent and stop the crime, avoid recognising any illegal situation resulting from it, abstain from helping or supporting its continuation, and work together to end it and ensure those responsible are held accountable.

All states must implement prompt and effective punitive actions against Israel instead of merely issuing condemnation statements or broad calls. This includes applying diplomatic, economic, and military sanctions; suspending any agreements, privileges, or cooperation that enable ongoing crimes or provide political cover; enforcing a comprehensive embargo on the supply, transfer, purchase, or import of weapons, munitions, equipment, and military and security technology; freezing the assets of involved Israeli officials; and imposing travel bans on them. Maintaining normal relations with a state that commits genocide and forced displacement, or providing it with weapons, political, and economic support, can be seen as contributing to the ongoing unlawful situation. This may also violate states’ obligations to prevent and stop the crime and to avoid aiding or assisting in its commission.

The international community must act swiftly and decisively to dismantle Israel’s illegal system of control, detention, and apartheid over Palestinians, including those in the Gaza Strip. This involves forcing an immediate end to its military presence; removing barriers, buffer zones, and restricted areas that reduce the Strip’s land area and hinder residents’ access; and ensuring the prompt, unconditional return of displaced individuals to their original homes. These steps are essential to prevent de facto annexation, settler colonialism, and the forced displacement of Palestinians.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urges immediate international action to lift the unlawful blockade on Gaza and establish safe, sustainable humanitarian access. This includes opening UN-supervised humanitarian corridors to allow the free flow of food, medicine, fuel, medical supplies, and shelter materials without arbitrary restrictions. The deployment of independent international monitors is crucial to verify compliance and ensure that aid and essential services are not used as tools of genocide.

Additionally, donors, states, and international organisations should move beyond merely managing the disaster through temporary relief. They need to act immediately to offer safe, dignified shelter solutions for residents, including permitting shelter materials and essential supplies to enter without restrictions, and urgently repairing health facilities, water and sewage networks, and critical infrastructure. A genuine path toward reconstruction cannot exist without lifting the blockade, ending Israeli restrictions on materials and equipment entry, ensuring residents can return to their areas, and stopping the ongoing destruction of civilian structures.

Reconstruction efforts should not replace accountability or serve to normalise the consequences of the Israeli crimes. Instead, it must compel Israel to take legal responsibility for the extensive destruction and ensure victims’ rights to reparation, compensation, and the restoration of safe living conditions on their land.

States with universal jurisdiction courts must issue arrest warrants for Israeli political and military leaders involved in the ongoing genocide and initiate legal proceedings to fulfil their international legal obligation to prosecute serious crimes and combat impunity. They must also hold accountable their citizens found to have committed violations against Palestinians, in line with their national and international legal obligations and within their territorial or personal jurisdiction.

Relevant UN agencies should urgently conduct an independent assessment of the Gaza Strip to identify the areas that are truly safe for habitation and human use. This will reveal the Israeli misrepresentation that considers nominal geographic zones as habitable. Euro-Med Monitor emphasises the importance of legally and practically distinguishing between the theoretical geographic regions still available to residents and the zones genuinely suitable for living or for safe displacement centres, which must be free of rubble, environmental and health risks, unexploded ordnance, and war remnants, EuroMed concluded.

News

Israel Sprays South Lebanon With Poison

CrossFireArabia
February 5, 2026

The Israeli army’s spraying of chemical substances over vast agricultural areas in southern Lebanon and Syria is deeply alarming. The deliberate targeting of civilian farmland violates international humanitarian law, particularly the prohibition on attacking or destroying objects indispensable to civilian survival. Large-scale destruction of private property without specific military necessity amounts to a war crime and undermines food security and basic livelihoods in the affected areas.

On the morning of Sunday, 1 February 2026, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) received notice from the Israeli army of planned aerial activity near the Blue Line and was asked to remain inside shelters. The alert disrupted the mission, leading to the cancellation of more than 10 field activities and the suspension of routine patrols along one-third of the line for over nine hours.

VIDEO | Local residents in south Lebanon have witnessed Israeli aircraft spraying unidentified chemical agents over their agricultural lands, according to a report from Al Manar.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said today that Israel warned UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon… pic.twitter.com/sY9M9Tpm5b
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 3, 2026

During the period in which international forces were forced to remain inactive, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documented Israeli aircraft spraying chemical substances over extensive agricultural areas, particularly in the town of Ayta ash-Shaab and its vicinity in southern Lebanon. This raises the risk of consequences beyond immediate crop damage, posing a serious threat to the rights to health and a safe environment through potential long-term contamination of soil and water resources.

The announcement by Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara Elzein that specialised teams had been dispatched to collect samples from the targeted sites for laboratory analysis reflects official concern about the possible use of internationally prohibited or highly toxic substances.

This incident cannot be viewed in isolation from the scorched-earth policy pursued by the Israeli army. It forms part of a pattern of systematic destruction of agricultural land, including the burning of approximately 9,000 hectares during recent military operations using white phosphorus and incendiary munitions.

The deliberate targeting of the means of life violates the laws of war and appears intended to undermine the living security of residents in the south and render their areas uninhabitable, thereby forcibly displacing them.

Euro-Med Monitor also documented Israeli aircraft spraying pesticides of unknown composition over farmland in the countryside of Quneitra in southern Syria on Monday and Tuesday, 26 and 27 January 2026. The direct targeting of civilian objects caused widespread crop destruction, posing a serious threat to economic and food security and violating farmers’ rights to work and to an adequate standard of living by destroying their primary sources of income without military justification.

The breach of territorial sovereignty and cross-border targeting of agricultural land constitute violations of the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law. The use of chemical substances of unknown composition, given their destructive effects on vegetation and their direct threat to public health, constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law, which prohibits methods or means of warfare that cause indiscriminate harm, unnecessary suffering, or widespread, long-term damage to the natural environment.

Such practices expose their perpetrators to international criminal accountability. Under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, intentionally attacking civilian objects or destroying property without imperative military necessity constitutes a war crime. The use of chemical substances to devastate agricultural land satisfies the material elements of these crimes by inflicting widespread, long-term harm on the natural environment and the foundations of civilian life.

This conduct reflects a systematic operational pattern long implemented by Israel in border areas east and north of the Gaza Strip, where aerial spraying of lethal chemicals has been used to enforce buffer zones by destroying vegetation and dismantling the food basket, despite repeated international warnings about the catastrophic consequences for food security and public health.

Euro-Med Monitor previously documented similar attacks through a comprehensive evidentiary archive supported by laboratory analyses and expert testimony. The findings showed that the substances used were not conventional pesticides but highly toxic chemical compounds with destructive effects that are difficult to contain. The harm extended beyond seasonal crop loss to long-term contamination of soil and groundwater, damage to livestock, and the dismantling of environmental infrastructure, rendering the restoration of agricultural activity nearly impossible. Such conduct constitutes a compounded violation that strikes at the core of the rights to life and to a healthy environment.

Israel begins scorched-earth policy in occupied Syria, Lebanon

The Israeli military has started spraying herbicides to kill all vegetation near the borders with Lebanon and Syria, the Channel 15 reported, citing security concerns over militant concealment pic.twitter.com/UPVlGRzVsF
— Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) February 3, 2026

Read within the broader context of continued military targeting of agricultural land with various munitions, these incidents reveal a systematic policy of destruction that exceeds any legitimate military objective. The approach appears intended to render agricultural areas uninhabitable by dismantling economic infrastructure and depriving residents of their fundamental means of livelihood. It amounts to collective punishment prohibited under international law and constitutes an unlawful method of pressure designed to create a coercive environment that drives forced displacement by stripping populations of the means necessary for stability and survival.

The international community, particularly the United Nations, must act immediately by establishing an independent fact-finding mission to collect samples from affected soil and crops in southern Lebanon and the countryside of Quneitra, subject them to thorough laboratory analysis, determine the chemical composition of the substances used, assess their toxicity, and evaluate any potential violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention or relevant international environmental protocols, thereby removing doubt about the nature of this targeting.

States Parties to the Geneva Conventions whose national legislation permits the exercise of universal jurisdiction must fulfil their legal obligations by initiating criminal investigations and prosecuting Israeli officials responsible for ordering environmental destruction and the use of weapons with indiscriminate effects. Such acts constitute war crimes and grave breaches not subject to statutes of limitation and require the activation of individual accountability mechanisms against those responsible, wherever they may be found.

The UN Security Council must issue a binding resolution condemning the grave Israeli crimes and consider the obstruction of UNIFIL’s work and its forced withdrawal during the violations a flagrant breach of Resolution 1701. Euro-Med Monitor stresses the need to guarantee farmers and landowners the right to fair compensation for the economic and environmental losses they have sustained, and to obligate Israel, as the aggressor, to bear the costs of land rehabilitation and the remediation of any long-term ecological damage resulting from this contamination.

The Lebanese and Syrian governments should submit formal declarations to the Registry of the International Criminal Court (ICC) under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, thereby accepting the Court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed on their territories.

Euro-Med Monitor emphasises that this step is now an urgent necessity to halt the continued policy of impunity and enable the ICC Prosecutor to initiate independent investigations into Israel’s attacks on civilian objects as war crimes whose consequences transcend national borders and threaten human security across the region. The announcement by Lebanese Environment Minister Tamara Elzein that specialised teams had been dispatched to collect samples from the targeted sites for laboratory analysis reflects official concern about the possible use of internationally prohibited or highly toxic substances.

News

In Spite of Ceasefire Israel Kills 8 People Daily

CrossFireArabia
November 10, 2025

Despite a month having passed since the ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to commit genocide against Palestinian civilians through various means. It maintains conditions that devastate the lives of more than two million Palestinians and prevent any recovery from over 25 months of humanitarian catastrophe, in the midst of persistent international silence and failure to ensure protection and accountability.

Over the past four weeks, Euro-Med Monitor has documented the continued premeditated killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army. An average of eight Palestinians are killed daily under the ongoing comprehensive blockade on the Gaza Strip, alongside a policy of deliberate starvation, deprivation of basic means of survival, obstruction of reconstruction, restrictions on movement, denial of medical treatment for the wounded and sick, and the deliberate hindrance of humanitarian aid. This situation represents a continuation of the ongoing crime of genocide against the population of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army continues to violate the ceasefire daily through aerial and artillery bombardment, gunfire, and the ongoing destruction of homes and buildings, particularly in the eastern areas of Khan Yunis and Gaza City. These actions form part of a systematic approach to eroding the foundations of life in the Gaza Strip and denying its residents their most basic rights, in clear violation of international law.

Israel is exploiting the absence of international oversight to reshape the geographical landscape of Gaza, using the ceasefire as a cover to make areas under its direct military control effectively uninhabitable, both now and in the future

Since the ceasefire took effect on 10 October, the Israeli army has continued to kill Palestinian civilians, with 242 Palestinians killed, including 85 children, at a rate of more than eight deaths per day, and around 619 others injured, at more than 20 injuries per day. This clearly shows that Israel has not ceased its policy of killing and systematically targeting Palestinians.

In the absence of any effective international monitoring mechanism to enforce the ceasefire, Israel continues to commit violations on the ground by excluding the areas it controls, which make up over 50 per cent of the Gaza Strip, from the scope of the agreement. It has continued to carry out bombing and destruction operations even in the absence of active fighting.

Israel is exploiting the absence of international oversight to reshape the geographical landscape of Gaza, using the ceasefire as a cover to make areas under its direct military control effectively uninhabitable, both now and in the future. Euro-Med Monitor stresses that these actions are not merely violations of the agreement, but in effect transform the truce into a tool for expanding control and inflicting comprehensive, long-term destruction.

Israel continues to administer a deliberate policy of starvation in the Gaza Strip, having blocked the entry of approximately 70 per cent of the aid required under the agreement. It also controls the type of goods allowed in, systematically restricting essential food items such as meat and dairy products while flooding the markets with calorie-dense but nutrient-poor products. This maintains the population in a state of controlled, chronic hunger, without addressing its causes or severe health consequences, and without visibly displaying the acute physical signs of malnutrition.

The World Food Programme stated in a report issued on 7 November that hunger in Gaza has reached devastating levels, noting a 20 per cent increase in child malnutrition rates compared to last year, along with a shortage of routine vaccinations for one in five children due to the collapse of the health system.

Israel continues to close the Rafah crossing and block movement in both directions, restricting the movement of civilians, including the wounded and sick, and hindering the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

These actions are not isolated incidents but part of a systematic pattern indicating a clear policy by the Israeli political and military leadership to use the ceasefire as a cover to continue genocide against Gaza’s residents. By maintaining a disguised military assault and perpetuating killing, starvation, and systematic destruction, Israel exploits the absence of international will to protect civilians and hold perpetrators accountable.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of a grave development: the dismantling of the Gaza Strip’s geographical unity, turning it into an isolated and uninhabitable area. This risks entrenching a permanent geographical and demographic division and pushing the population towards forced displacement as the only means of survival.

The continued silence of the international community and the failure to activate accountability mechanisms provide Israel with practical cover to continue committing genocide, albeit at a slower pace, as part of a consistent policy aimed at eliminating the Palestinian presence in the Gaza Strip.

The international community must take immediate practical steps to ensure genuine protection for Palestinian civilians, secure the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and bring an immediate and comprehensive end to the illegal blockade. All crossings must be opened for the movement of people and goods, including the sick and wounded, under the supervision of the United Nations and its relevant agencies.

Safe, sufficient, and regular access to humanitarian aid must be guaranteed, particularly for essential items such as food, medicine, fuel, and supplies needed to restore health and basic services. It is imperative to prevent Israel from continuing to control the quantity and quality of aid or obstruct its delivery.

Euro-Med Monitor stresses the need to ensure the safe return of all forcibly displaced persons to their homes and original places of residence within the Gaza Strip and rejects any arrangements or projects that would entrench forced displacement or impose isolation zones or so-called “humanitarian zones” as substitutes for their original homes.

The deployment of an effective international mission under the United Nations is required to monitor Israeli conduct, document violations, and provide a protective presence that would help safeguard civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Euro-Med Monitor urges all states to halt the export and import of weapons and military or security equipment to and from Israel, and to suspend any military or security cooperation with it, in fulfilment of their obligation to prevent genocide and avoid contributing to war crimes or crimes against humanity.

All states and regional organisations, particularly states parties to the Genocide Convention, must take effective political, economic, and legal measures, including imposing targeted sanctions and suspending partnership and cooperation agreements with Israel, until it complies with its obligations under international law. States must also support the investigations of the International Criminal Court and implement the relevant orders of the International Court of Justice, while exercising their national jurisdictions to prosecute those involved in genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and ensure that such individuals are not afforded any safe haven.

Euro-Med Monitor calls for the establishment of an international mechanism for compensation and reconstruction to guarantee redress for civilian victims and the rebuilding of homes, infrastructure, and vital facilities, in a manner that does not restore Israeli control over resources, crossings, or freedom of movement.

News

Israel Faces Diplomatic Breakdown as Famine Cripples

CrossFireArabia
August 1, 2025

Israel is heading toward a major diplomatic breakdown as famine spreads in Gaza, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Friday.

The newspaper revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government ignored mounting international warnings about an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The report states that on March 2, Israel’s Security Cabinet made a decision to halt the entry of food aid into Gaza. This move came despite clear assessments from Israel’s own security establishment about the worsening famine, as well as urgent warnings from Gen. Ghassan Alian, the coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and several international relief organizations.

Unnamed political and security sources told the Yedioth Ahronoth that the decision “was not rooted in strategic considerations but was driven by political pressure from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich,” both known for their far-right policies according to Anadolu.

The daily noted that the Israeli government was fully aware Gaza was “on the brink of famine,” yet continued to block aid entry endangering the lives of countless Palestinian civilians.

The EU reportedly issued a stern warning to Israel regarding the consequences of the deepening crisis, even hinting at suspending its partnership agreement with Tel Aviv.

This came after a similar warning from the administration of US President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, urging Netanyahu to act, while the prime minister “wasted time and hesitated to make decisions,” the report added.

Yedioth Ahronoth concluded that “Israel has steered itself into both a humanitarian disaster in Gaza and an impending diplomatic collapse on the global stage.”

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

News

18,500 Soldiers Injured in Gaza War – Israeli Media

CrossFireArabia
July 27, 2025

At least 18,500 Israeli soldiers and police have been injured since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Jewish reports, Sunday.

The Yedioth Ahronoth daily stated that the the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division received 18,500 soldiers and other security forces wounded with varying degrees of severity.

However, official Israeli military figures widely differed, saying only 6,145 soldiers have been injured and 895 others killed.

According to the daily, more than 10,000 Israeli soldiers have suffered from mental health ailments, including 3,679 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The newspaper said that 9,000 soldiers submitted requests to have psychological injuries recognized, including anxiety, adjustment disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression in 2024 alone.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave according to Anadolu.