Palestinian Human Rights Center: Occupation Continues Violations in Gaza Under Pretext of 'Yellow Line'

A Palestinian human rights center said today, Monday, that the Israeli occupation continues, since the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, to commit serious and ongoing violations against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of approaching or crossing the 'yellow line', which it imposed as a new security line inside the sector's territories.

The Gaza Center for Human Rights stated in a statement that this matter is 'a clear violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, the rules for protecting civilians during armed conflicts, and what was agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement'. The center monitored what it described as 'a dangerous escalation in the policy of excessive leniency in using lethal force by the occupation forces', where fire is directly opened on Palestinian civilians who approach the yellow line or live in its vicinity, including farmers, displaced persons, and residents trying to reach their homes or lands.

The number of Palestinian martyrs exceeded 420 citizens, including 151 children and 60 women, in addition to 1184 injured, since the start of the firing on October 10 last year, most of them within the scope of what is called the yellow line, according to the human rights center, which said that the number is still continuously increasing, as a result of the daily ongoing violations committed by the occupation forces around the mentioned line, including direct shooting from occupation snipers, targeting via armed reconnaissance aircraft of the 'Quad Copter' type, in addition to artillery shelling, which confirms the systematic nature of using lethal force against civilians, and not as individual or exceptional incidents.

The center documented the Israeli army forces repeatedly expanding the scope of the lands under their control within the yellow line, where the percentage of these lands rose from 53% to more than 60% within the past three weeks, as those forces work on moving the yellow concrete blocks that mark the beginning of the line, which Palestinians are prohibited from crossing.

In addition, the center documented the continuation of systematic demolition and bulldozing operations for what remains of civilian homes and properties within the yellow line, where the occupation forces work to destroy entire residential neighborhoods or what remains of them, as part of a clear policy to impose a new demographic and security reality, aiming to prevent residents from returning to their original areas, and constitutes a crime of forced displacement prohibited under international law.

It also confirmed that 'these practices represent a direct violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which is supposed to ensure the cessation of hostile actions, protection of civilians, and preparation of conditions for the return of residents to their areas and homes, not imposing new military lines inside populated areas, or using the agreement as a cover to continue field control by force'.

It pointed out that these field violations come alongside official statements issued by the Israeli occupation leadership, reflecting a premeditated intention to use the yellow line as an open killing zone. Israeli Security Minister Yisrael Katz had previously said that the Israeli army began placing field markers along the yellow line, warning that 'any attempt to approach or cross this line will be met with gunfire'.

Previously, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced that the yellow line represents 'the new security line' or 'an advanced security border' for Israel inside the Gaza Strip, in a clear confirmation of the occupation's pursuit to turn this line into a permanent security reality, and impose it by armed force, in direct contradiction to the essence of the ceasefire agreement.

The coordinator of the Gaza Center for Human Rights in the sector, Muhammad Al-Khairi, considered in the same statement that what is happening along the 'yellow line' constitutes a clear model of state terrorism, where the field behavior of the soldiers harmonizes with the public statements issued by the political and military leadership of the occupation, which legitimized shooting at anyone approaching this line, and considered it 'the new security line'.

He pointed out that 'this harmony between the political decision and military implementation proves that killing and demolition are not individual acts, but official systematic policies implemented at the expense of the lives of Palestinian civilians, and in a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and international humanitarian law'.