Forcible transfer

Forcible transfer inside the Gaza Strip and control of the territory

At the height of the conflict, about 86% of Gaza’s territory was designated a closed military zone or placed under evacuation orders. This, combined with the systematic destruction of buildings and infrastructure forced at least 1.9 million residents, nearly 90% of the Strip’s population, out of their homes, and later out of temporary shelters as well. Many were forced to relocate multiple times, sometimes ten or more. As the war dragged on and spaces where Israel permitted residents to stay decreased, many IDPs reported increasing difficulty finding shelter, due to severe overcrowding and a shortage of appropriate equipment, made worse by prolonged restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, including tents. While Israel declared humanitarian zones, where civilians were instructed to move for their own safety, these areas were also occasionally attacked and civilians were harmed.

After the ceasefire went into effect on October 10, 2025, the Israeli military pulled back to positions along what is known as the “Yellow Line,” a new dividing line within the Strip. According to the agreement, Israel retained direct military control over about 58% of Gaza’s territory, along its borders with Israel and Egypt. The area under Israeli control is off limits to residents, but since the location of the demarcation line was unclear, dozens of Gazans were shot after inadvertently crossing it while attempting to return home after hostilities ended. On October 17, 2025, Israel’s defense minister issued an order to physically mark the Yellow Line. According to an announcement by the IDF Arabic spokesperson, concrete slabs are being placed at 200-meter intervals. Reports indicated that in some places, the markers were placed well inside Gaza, effectively expanding the area under Israeli control. Estimates suggest work on marking the line is still ongoing, and it is unclear whether Israel will complete the project.

If Israel and Hamas continue to abide by the agreement, the next phases of the ceasefire should see the Israeli military withdrawing from the areas where it has retained control, allowing for reconstruction and the return of displaced residents. The 20-Point Plan agreed to by Israel and Hamas stipulates that, in the future, Israel will withdraw to a security perimeter, which has not been precisely defined, but does include the Philadelphi Corridor. This implies that even after a further withdrawal, a significant part of Gaza will remain under Israeli control.

Forcible transfer from Gaza City

On September 9, 2025, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for all of Gaza City and two adjacent areas, covering a total of about 21% of the Strip and serving as permanent or temporary home to roughly one million regular residents and IDPs who had sought refuge in the city. The order forced people into conditions of extreme overcrowding, with up to 28,000 people per square kilometer. Many residents, already exhausted from displacement and hunger, left their homes because of the order, as well as the bombardment and destruction of residential neighborhoods. The order was lifted about a month later, once the ceasefire agreement came into effect, but many returning residents found their homes and neighborhoods decimated.

Threat of forcible transfer from the Gaza Strip

In March 2025, government plans to carry out a population transfer from the Gaza Strip were made public. The Security Cabinet passed a resolution to “help” Palestinians who wished “to leave voluntarily” for third countries, with the government going so far as to establish a special planning body, fully disregarding Israel’s obligations under international law and the prohibition against the forcible transfer of the local population. Promoting the emigration of a population under foreign military rule while withholding sufficient humanitarian aid cannot be considered facilitation of voluntary departure. On September 17, 2025, the day the assault on Gaza City began, during which hundreds were killed or wounded and tens of thousands fled, the Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, said at a conference in Tel Aviv that “the Gaza Strip is becoming a real estate bonanza,” adding, “We need to decide how to split the profits Gaza land will bring.”

However, the 20-Point Plan, which underpins the ceasefire agreement and is binding on the Israeli government, states explicitly that Gaza’s residents cannot not be expelled, and that Israel cannot settle or annex the Strip.

Instead of advancing unlawful plans to remove residents, policies must support a framework that allows residents to return and exercise their fundamental right of freedom of movement, both within Gaza and the right to leave and return to it, which has been denied to them for many years.

For more on this subject, see: Israel’s “voluntary emigration” policy from the Gaza Strip effectively constitutes the forced transfer of the civilian population – a war crime and crime against humanity on Gisha’s website.