Israel's destruction in Gaza shows 'clear signs of ethnic cleansing': Report
Evidence of ethnic cleansing and destruction in Gaza, including mass killings, siege and forced displacement, is "undeniable", a new report has found.
In its latest findings, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), detailed Israel's ongoing devastation in the enclave, dismantling of essential civilian infrastructure and systemic denial of humanitarian assistance.
The report, titled "Gaza: Life in a Death Trap", calls for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, saying: "The complete destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza and all things that make up the very fabric of society must stop."
MSF warns that even if Israel's war on Gaza were to end today, the long-term consequences would be unprecedented.
"A whole society needs rebuilding while coping with a staggering number of war-wounded who may require years of rehabilitation and risk infections, amputations and permanent disability," the report said, adding that the trauma endured by Gaza's population will affect generations to come.
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According to MSF, teams dispatched by the organisation witnessed "a pattern of attacks against hospitals", including besiegement, targeted shelling, raids, and attacks on patients, medical staff and ambulances.
The Switzerland-based NGO noted that these aggressions, alongside denial of medical care and humanitarian aid, indicate that Israeli troops are "waging a war on the health of Gazans”, decimating the enclave's healthcare infrastructure.
In mid-September, the Palestinian health ministry said that the health sector has been subjected to "a systematic attack by the occupation forces that has affected all its components".
According to the ministry's latest figures in December, the death toll of Palestinians working in this sector has risen to 1057.
"We call on all workers in the health system in all countries of the world to stand in solidarity with our health teams in the Gaza Strip, where the sector is being subjected to genocide," the Palestinian health ministry said in an announcement last week.
The MSF report, based on interviews, witness testimonies and data collected between October 2023 and early October 2024, notes that more healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since October than in all conflicts globally in 2021 and 2022 combined.
"In an already weakened health system facing a massive surge in needs, the loss of health workers, including specialists, is critical," the report said.
Attacks on civilians and displacement
The 34-page report also explains that as a result of the collapsing health sector in Gaza, people with medical needs are now severely affected, with as many as 10,000 cancer patients left with no medical care.
Moreover, medical and aid requests made for patients across the besieged strip, including needs for wounded children and their caretakers, were denied by "Israeli authorities without justification or apparent reason", according to MSF.
"Attacks on civilians, the dismantling of the healthcare system, the deprivation of food, water and supplies are a form of collective punishment inflicted by the Israeli authorities on the people of Gaza. This must stop now," the report states.
The international organisation's findings corroborate previous observations made by medical teams, legal experts and human rights bodies that genocide and ethnic cleansing are taking place in Gaza.
On Thursday alone, four separate massacres were recorded in the span of four hours, Gaza-based journalist Motasem Dalloul reported.
One of the essential actions taken by Israeli forces against Gaza's population comes in the form of displacement, the report notes, adding that the first forced expulsion orders, issued on 13 October 2023, ordered 1.1 million people to head south in just a few hours.
The report says that as a result of recurring displacement, difficult living conditions, and severe shortages and insecurity, the mental health of people in the enclave has worsened, especially those with pre-existing conditions.
According to the WHO, there are more than 485,000 people with mental health disorders in Gaza.
Moreover, displacement itself, often aimed at hundreds of thousands, put the population at further risk of over-crowding in shelters, shortage of essentials and even attacks by Israeli forces in areas designated as “safe zones”.
In mid-November, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Israel was committing "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, adding that no destination within Gaza is ultimately safe, with Israel repeatedly attacking designated safe areas.
Based on interviews with 39 displaced Palestinians, the report says Israel's claims to be lawfully displacing civilians are false and that civilians have not been secure during their forced expulsions or after arriving at the designated safe zones.
Instructions on "evacuation" were often contradictory, misleading and issued at the last minute.
Satellite imagery included in the HRW report shows the systematic destruction of buildings and areas Israel has dubbed "security corridors", including agricultural land, whose destruction is exacerbating an already dire food shortage.
Statements from senior officials with command responsibility indicated that forced displacement was a deliberate aspect of Israeli state policy.
“The Israeli government cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cuts off food, water and sanitation,” said Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at HRW.
“Israel has blatantly violated its obligation to ensure Palestinians can return home, razing virtually everything in large areas.”
'Gaza is apocalyptic right now'
According to MSF, Gaza has suffered extreme environmental degradation as a result of Israel's assault on the enclave, rendering it "unfit for life".
Citing research by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the war on Gaza, as of June 2024, generated an estimated 35m tonnes of debris, posing significant risks to both the environment and the health of the population.
The debris contains hazardous materials such as unexploded ordnance, industrial waste and asbestos, "complicating future recovery efforts", MSF's report notes.
Additionally, the collapse of water and sanitation systems has resulted in widespread contamination of Gaza’s coastal waters, soil and freshwater sources, which could lead to "far-reaching consequences beyond Gaza’s borders".
"Without urgent change, the environmental damage will continue to exacerbate Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, locking its population into long-term risks to health, food security and ecosystem resilience," the report says.
Due to the large-scale destruction in the enclave, rebuilding Gaza will prove to be a challenge. UN estimates indicate it could take up to 15 years to clear just the rubble and as long as 80 years to rebuild residential structures.
The devastation of Gaza's infrastructure could also lead to "excess deaths", a term referring to fatalities beyond those expected under stable conditions. This encompasses both direct deaths from violence and indirect deaths caused by the collapse of healthcare services, malnutrition and disease.
"In war zones like Gaza, these indirect effects significantly reduce children’s potential for a healthy future.
"In Gaza, the ongoing violence, lack of healthcare and disruption of education are expected to result in long-term damage to children’s physical and mental development, exacerbating their suffering and leading to years of healthy life lost."
In a recent CNN interview, Tom Fletcher, the UN's new chief of humanitarian affairs, stressed that the enclave is only getting a fraction of the essentials needed.
“Gaza is apocalyptic right now. It is an absolutely terrible place to be a civilian, and it's almost an impossible place to deliver humanitarian aid," he said.
"We’re facing the spectre of starvation again. Disease is rampant. Our trucks are getting looted... It's an intolerable environment."
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