Written reply of the State of Israel to the question put by Judge Nolte at the public sitting held on 17 May 2024 – Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)

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18 May 2024

“Can Israel provide information about the existing humanitarian conditions in the designated evacuation zones, in particular Al-Mawasi, and how it would ensure safe passage to these zones, as well as the provision of shelter, food, water and other humanitarian aid and assistance to all evacuees that are, and can be expected to arrive, in these zones?”

Introduction

1. Israel is acutely aware that armed hostilities in urban populated areas pose grave risks to the civilian population, and that Hamas, in its disregard to life and to the law, exploits this reality. Israel is committed to minimizing harm to civilians, consistent and sometimes even beyond the requirements of international law. Calling for the evacuation of civilians is undertaken precisely for this purpose.

2. Israel is moreover aware that the humanitarian situation is constantly changing, and that new needs arise. To this end, it engages proactively with a host of relevant stakeholders attending to the needs to the civilian population and overseeing the management of shelter complexes within the designated humanitarian areas. This ongoing engagement serves to identify and address the evolving needs of the affected civilian population.

3. During the course of hostilities, the IDF has engaged in evacuation efforts in different parts of the Gaza Strip, especially in the northern part, using various means, methods and resources to encourage evacuation of civilians from areas of differing population density, infrastructure and other characteristics. As the purpose of such efforts is to enhance security to civilians, their security is also taken into account when determining what routes may be used for such evacuation. To that end, the IDF employs tactical pauses in fighting along evacuation routes and even secures these routes with its own forces.