Forcibly displacing Rafah civilians would be war crime, France warns Israel

Israel will be committing a war crime under international law if it seeks to forcibly displace Palestinian civilians from Rafah, in Gaza, France has warned.

The French foreign ministry issued the statement after President Emmanuel Macron spoke with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday night. He used the discussion to restate his opposition to a Rafah offensive, shortly before Israel ordered an evacuation designed to move initially at least 100,000 refugees as part of a military effort to drive the remaining Hamas battalions out of Gaza.

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European diplomats seemed unwilling to accept claims that the evacuation order was simply a limited operation to move some refugees and so force Hamas to accept the terms Israel is offering on a ceasefire and hostage deal.

The US and allies have repeatedly said they could not support an Israeli attack on Rafah without seeing credible plans to protect the civilian population. It remains to be seen if the US is willing to ban arms exports to Israel as a deterrent, but even this measure seems unlikely to deter Netanyahu, who has said he is willing to see Israel isolated internationally in its attempt to secure a final victory against Hamas.

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https://amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/06/forcibly-displacing-rafah-civilians-would-be-war-france-warns-israel