The Lawyer Warned The Population Transfer Was Legally Indefensible Without A Full Analysis Of The Humanitarian Conditions For One Million People In Southern Gaza.
However, the army chief ignored her and issued the order. Army sources said military leaders “created a scenario that doesn’t exist, while everyone knew the evacuation could not proceed.”
Last week, Tomer-Yerushalmi warned Zamir that it could not be determined that the planned evacuation operations to southern Gaza would be legal and demanded that evacuation notices be postponed until the necessary conditions for receiving the population were in place, but he ignored her position.
A few days later, he convened a meeting with IDF Southern Command Chief Yaniv Asor and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Ghassan Alian, excluding the Military Advocate General, and the three decided to order all residents of Gaza City to move south without informing Tomer-Yerushalmi of the decision.
The Military Advocate General is the IDF authority responsible for interpreting international law, and senior military officials said they could not recall a case in which a Chief of Staff ignored the top lawyer’s position on such a significant issue.
Zamir frequently emphasizes that he is committed to acting in accordance with international law, both publicly and in conversations with reservists concerned about violations of the laws of war. “The IDF always acts in accordance with domestic and international law,” the army chief said in May. “Any claim questioning the integrity of our actions or the morality of our soldiers is baseless.”
Last week, Zamir held several meetings with senior legal officials and top military leaders regarding the evacuation of Gaza City residents and their transfer to southern Gaza. During these discussions, the army chief, the Southern Command chief, and the COGAT commander were asked to provide the Military Advocate General with a comprehensive report detailing the humanitarian situation in southern Gaza and the status of infrastructure required under international law in the areas designated to receive the city’s population.
Estimates indicate that around 1.2 million people in Gaza City would need to move south, comprising 700,000 pre-war residents and roughly 500,000 internally displaced people who had sought shelter there.
Israeli military sources familiar with last week’s discussions, which included the IDF chief, senior military officials, and the Military Advocate General, said that military leaders presented an unrealistic picture of the humanitarian conditions in southern Gaza. “They created a scenario that doesn’t exist, without any serious groundwork, while everyone knew this was not the reality and that the evacuation could not proceed,” said one security official with knowledge of the matter.
According to military sources, the partial and superficial information presented during the discussions was shown on unclear maps in which areas already fully occupied were marked as available for new residents. Calculations by Southern Command and COGAT showed that in the areas designated as safe and intended to house residents, just seven square meters per person were allocated, far below international law standards.
The IDF announced plans to bring 100,000 tents into the territory to accommodate residents during the winter, but army sources stated that, in practice, only simple tarpaulins, not enclosed tents, were being provided.
The Israeli military sources also noted that, contrary to the army’s claims, hospitals in southern Gaza are on the verge of collapse and cannot accommodate additional casualties due to severe overcrowding. Moving a million people to areas without adequate medical services could trigger a humanitarian disaster, draw international criticism, and potentially lead to sanctions from countries that support Israel.
Hidden History -- In The Making 