In 2006, the Israeli occupation imposed a strict land, air, and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip inhabited by approximately 2.3 million Palestinians, covering an area of about 365 square kilometers. A quarter of it was designated as a buffer zone, making it the largest open-air prison. The Israeli occupation controls the entry and exit of Palestinians to and from the Gaza Strip, in addition to the entry of food, products, medical resources, petroleum products, electricity, and water into the area.

This has led to widespread poverty, reaching a rate of 53% among the total population of the Gaza Strip. Further, the unemployment rate in the labor force spiked to 50%, and approximately 70% of families became dependent on external aid.

The blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli-occupying state is considered a war crime against humanity, as it represents one of the forms of collective punishment in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 8 of the International Criminal Court Statute. Additionally, it is an explicit violation of the provisions of Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupier from restricting the entry of food and medical supplies to the inhabitants of the occupied territory.

The blockade is also deemed a deliberate act of starving civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of essential materials for their survival and livelihood. This, in turn, constitutes a war crime according to Article 8 of the International Criminal Court Statute.

Under security pretexts, the Israeli occupation-imposed access restricted areas (ARA). The allowed fishing zone in Gaza ranges between 3 and 12 nautical miles, making 85% of the fishing zone access restricted. This results in exacerbation of the economic crisis and the loss of livelihoods for Palestinians

Access restricted area )ARA) reached up to a maximum of 1500m from defense including No- Go- zone of 300m on land.  This means that at its maximum level of enforcement, the ARA on land represents 17% of the Gaza Strip area and 35% of the agricultural land.

Wastewater is discharged without treatment to the sea. The improper treatment of wastewater results from power shortages as electricity is needed to operate wastewater treatment facilities. The wastewater has caused serious damage to the marine environment, in addition to health problems. 70% of Gaza’s beaches have become unsuitable for swimming due to the discharge of wastewater into the sea.

97% of Gaza’s scarce water is now unsuitable for human consumption according to the World Health Organization. The contaminated water causes 26 percent of all illnesses in Gaza and is the cause of more than 12% of child deaths.

Massive destruction of property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip

Intensive Israeli airstrikes carried out by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip during the large-scale military offensive started in October 2023 led to the destruction of approximately 360,000 residential units, representing more than 85% of the total housing units in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, widespread damage occurred to the infrastructure, including roads, water networks, sewage systems, and electricity. This forced more than 85%  of the population in the Gaza Strip, around 1.9 million Palestinians, to be displaced and live in makeshift conditions, seeking refuge in schools, hospital yards, mosques, churches, as well as in the facilities and schools of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The extensive and unjustified destruction of property in the occupied land, leading to difficult living conditions and depriving the population of the necessities of life, is considered, under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a war crime.

Significant heavy metal contamination of the lands bombed during the attacks of 2008, 2012 2014, and 2021 causes contamination and loss in soil fertility.

The successive Israeli wars that targeted the occupied Gaza Strip and the use of various types of missiles, explosives, and weapons containing white phosphorus, gases, and other environmentally harmful substances by the Israeli occupation have rendered vast areas of the occupied Gaza Strip into unsuitable lands for agriculture. Additionally, the remnants of these weapons have not been properly disposed of and treated through sanitary methods, leading to their decomposition and the deposition of their components in the soil and water sources.

The use of these weapons, along with environmental sabotage, destruction, and pollution for military gain without any consideration or concern for the health of the population and its negative repercussions on their health and food sources, is considered a war crime.

Displacement of Gaza residents and forcing them to leave their residential areas

Ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza led to the widespread destruction of properties and infrastructure, including road networks, water, and communication systems. Additionally, carpet bombing of residential areas and protected facilities such as hospitals and schools forced the population to evacuate. Consequently, over 1.9 million Palestinians, equivalent to 85% of the Gaza Strip's population, became displaced. Israeli authorities further urged Gaza residents to seek refuge in Sinai, Egypt, if they wished to find a haven from the bombardment.

Forcing residents of the occupied territories to leave their residential areas for other locations within or outside the occupied land is considered, according to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and Article 8 of the International Criminal Court Statute, a war crime if the intent is to compel them to displace and seek refuge.

Israeli occupation forces directly targeted 22 health facilities and completely destroyed 51 clinics through direct airstrikes. Additionally, 16 main hospitals out of the 35 in the Gaza Strip were forced to close. Hospitals in Gaza were subjected to attacks and bombing, as Israeli forces stormed into the Al-Shifa Medical Complex on November 15, resulting in the shutdown of the largest medical facility in Gaza and consequently depriving thousands of patients and injured individuals of its services.

The surroundings of the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia refugee camp were also targeted, leading to direct hits and bombardment of the vicinity, resulting in the death of 12 individuals.

The bombing of the Al-Muadham Hospital on November 17, 2023, stands as a stark example of the violation and disregard by the Israeli occupation for the sanctity and immunity of hospitals as protected facilities. This incident claimed the lives of 500 patients, medical staff, and civilians seeking safety from Israeli airstrikes and bombings. Deliberately targeting hospitals is considered a war crime according to Article 8 of the International Criminal Court Statute. Those responsible for ordering or carrying out such violations must be held accountable and prosecuted.

More than 150 ambulances were targeted and destroyed during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip. Moreover, over 300 individuals from medical teams, including doctors, paramedics, technicians, and those searching for the injured, were killed. Deliberately targeting medical personnel, despite their protected status under international humanitarian law, is a clear and intentional act of causing harm and death to civilians. Targeting medical personnel and medical transportation constitutes a deliberate and explicit deprivation of essential services for this group, whether in terms of transporting or providing assistance and care to the injured. Consequently, the intentional killing of those in need of their services through the targeting of medical personnel and medical transportation is considered a war crime, according to Article 8 of the International Criminal Court Statute.

In the early days of the aggression on Gaza, Israeli Minister of Infrastructure, Yisrael Katz, issued a directive to "immediately cut off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip." Following this decision, the Israeli occupation ceased supplying civilian populations with water, creating a severe crisis in access to drinking water. As a result, residents of the Gaza Strip are now receiving only 1-3 liters per person per day. The water supply from water sources has also dropped by 90%, forcing civilians to use water that is unfit for consumption, including seawater, despite its health risks and damage.

Deliberately denying essential elements of human life, such as water and food, to civilian populations as a collective punishment and retaliatory action during times of war is considered a war crime and a crime against humanity according to international humanitarian law. Moreover, it is the duty of the occupying state, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to provide residents with the essentials of life rather than preventing their access to them.

Israeli Defense Minister Yo'av Galant stated on October 9, 2023, during a meeting at the Southern Command of the Israeli Occupation Army, "I have ordered a complete blockade on Gaza. There will be no electricity or food. We are fighting human animals and acting accordingly."

Intentionally preventing the entry of food, and cutting off electricity, and energy supplies to civilian populations during times of war amounts to a deliberate attempt to eliminate them. This action violates the obligations of the occupier, which include ensuring the flow of essential food items and life necessities to civilians. The Minister's statement and the clear directive to prevent the entry of food and energy for Gaza residents serve as undeniable evidence of the occupier's intention to deliberately kill Palestinians by depriving them of basic life necessities. This constitutes both genocide and a war crime, according to the International Criminal Court Statute.

As a result of the occupation's destruction of infrastructure and the prevention of fuel from entering the Gaza Strip, approximately 65 sewage pumps have stopped working. All wastewater treatment plants and their systems, totaling 6, have also ceased operating entirely due to electricity and fuel shortages. This has led to the flow of around 130,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage water into the sea in the Gaza Strip daily.

Furthermore, the aggression has led to the suspension of waste collection, resulting in waste accumulation on the streets, around shelters, and in schools. Additionally, medical waste has become mixed with other types of waste, posing a significant threat to both public health and the environment.

The intentional exploitation of destruction and sabotage to impact civilian populations and their safety, as well as the failure to protect the environment from harm or degradation, constitutes actions described as war crimes.

Israeli occupation forces dropped over fifty thousand tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip, equivalent to the destructive power of three nuclear bombs. The extensive destruction of properties and vegetation in the region, along with the use of prohibited weapons such as white phosphorus, has led to widespread environmental devastation, affecting both flora and fauna.  The occupier also prevented the entry of technical assistance to search for survivors under the rubble and retrieve the deceased, estimated to be around 8,000 individuals. All of these actions will result in severe damage to the soil and water due to the remnants and components of the explosive devices.

Failure to protect the environment and avoid its manipulation for the benefit of military operations is considered a war crime under the provisions and principles of international humanitarian law.

Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip impede disposing of solid waste into the main landfill located east of the town of "Juhor al-Dik." This has led to the piling of tens of thousands of tons of solid waste in residential neighborhoods, causing it to decompose and leach its contents into the soil and subsequently into the groundwater. The necessity to dispose of the waste through burning has also resulted in air pollution with black smoke, causing significant health and environmental damage.

The deliberate prevention by the occupation forces of Palestinians from disposing of and treating this waste has had a detrimental impact on the Palestinian environment, leading to its degradation and pollution. This poses a health hazard and an affront that may affect public health, representing an intentional act by the occupation to cause harm and possibly death to Palestinians. Additionally, deliberately creating conditions that make some areas uninhabitable forces Palestinians to leave and move to safer and more suitable areas. This constitutes a war crime according to the principles of international humanitarian law and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip targeted numerous solar panels, which are considered one of the alternative energy sources in Gaza. The occupation's aircraft bombed solar panels in various areas of Gaza, including those erected near Al-Quds Hospital and solar panels on the building housing one of the largest bakeries in Gaza. Israeli fighter jets also targeted the power generator and solar power cells at Al-Wafa Hospital in the center of Gaza City.

The destruction of these solar panels and preventing Palestinians from benefiting from them for clean energy, in addition to intentionally depriving them of essential life components such as energy, not only represents the deprivation of Palestinians from any work that could contribute to promoting a clean and pollution-free environment but also constitutes a deliberate act of sabotaging and polluting the environment by the occupier. It is an attempt to exploit environmental destruction to influence Palestinians and displace them by creating no-Palestinians-zones.