GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Government Media Office (GMO) accused the Israeli occupation army of continuing to expand the so-called “Yellow Line”, turning it from a temporary field mark associated with ceasefire agreements into a tool to swallow more land in the Gaza Strip, impose new geographical and demographic facts by force of arms, and follow a policy of forced displacement against the civilian population.
The office explained, in a statement on Wednesday, that the occupation army uses the “Yellow Line” as a cover for a creeping policy aimed at isolating and destroying large areas of the Strip, noting that the restricted access areas expanded to include about 65% of the total area of the Gaza Strip, after it was estimated at 53%.
It added that military vehicles and yellow concrete blocks advanced during the past days in several axes, pointing out that in the Central Governorate, the “Yellow Line” was moved a distance ranging between 300 and 350 meters to the west, which led to the confiscation and bulldozing of agricultural lands and residential homes belonging to Palestinian families, and made other homes a few meters away from the occupation’s barracks.
GMO pointed out that the occupation forces penetrated into Gaza Governorate to the depth of residential neighborhoods, imposing a suffocating siege on the residents, pushing dozens of families to repeated forced displacement under the threat of bombardment and gunfire.
It indicated that the areas adjacent to the Line in the North Gaza Governorate turned into open military areas, after leveling homes to the ground completely from al-Sikka Street reaching the Sheikh Zayed roundabout, and erecting dirt mounds and watchtowers to turn the area into an arena for sniping and killing.
The office stressed that the occupation’s expansion is not limited to seizing lands, but is accompanied by “direct bloody terrorism”, explaining that approaching the “Yellow Line” has become a field execution sentence.
GMO showed that field and international reports documented the martyrdom of 23 Palestinians within one week, between July 13 and 20, near this Line, raising the number of martyrs in those areas since the start of the ceasefire to more than 1,165 martyrs, pointing out that the occupation also relies on “quadcopter” drones to issue forced evacuation orders under the threat of gunfire.
It also explained that military expansion led to the isolation of vital facilities, causing a service and environmental disaster, after municipality crews were unable to reach about half the area of residential areas, which prevented the operation of water wells, sewage stations, and main control rooms.
It warned that the crowding of hundreds of thousands of displaced people and citizens in narrow spaces, while depriving them of basic services, threatens an unprecedented health and environmental crisis, holding the international community responsible for that.
GMO called on the international community, the United Nations, and the UN Security Council to intervene immediately to stop Israel’s military expansion, and compel the occupation army to retreat from the lands that were nibbled away.
It also called on the International Criminal Court and human rights institutions to document field executions and forced displacement accompanying the expansion of the “Yellow Line”, and include them within war crimes and crimes against humanity files committed against the Palestinian people.
GMO concluded its statement by warning against international dealing with these encroachments as “routine events”, emphasizing that silence on this geographical and demographic attrition represents actual participation in besieging, suffocating, and killing the Gaza Strip.
It saluted the steadfastness of the Palestinians, especially families living in tents and border areas, and their insistence on remaining on their land despite bombardment and destruction.
