Buildings destroyed after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on January 10, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

The meeting proposed by Algeria discussed the threat of forced displacement facing the Palestinian people in Gaza as a result of the escalating Hamas–Israel conflict which is approaches the 100-day mark.

Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights expressed worries that the mass displacement began on October 12 when Israeli authorities ordered civilians living north of the Gaza Strip to leave their homes and head south, ahead of the launch of Israel’s military offensive.

She said the compelled evacuations, failing to meet the necessary conditions for lawfulness, therefore potentially amount to forcible transfer, a war crime.

Martin Griffiths, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said efforts to send humanitarian convoys to Gaza have been met with delays, denials, and the imposition of impossible conditions.

Griffiths emphasized that any persons displaced from Gaza must be allowed to return, as international law demands and criticized the recent statements by Israeli ministers regarding plans to encourage the mass transfer of civilians from Gaza to third countries.

The OCHA said the international community has strong rejected any attempt to change the demographic composition of Gaza.