GAZA/GENEVA - The Israeli army has sent tanks to the northern Gazan city of Beit Hanoun and ordered residents to evacuate, the Hamas-run government media office said Tuesday.
The office said in a statement that Israeli bulldozers and tanks advanced toward shelter centers in the city and the Israeli army surrounded a school housing hundreds of displaced people.
The Israeli army set up a field investigation center behind the school and demanded everyone inside to leave under threat of weapons, according to the statement, adding all families in Beit Hanoun were forced to evacuate, and several young men were arrested.
The Israeli army set up a field investigation center behind the school and demanded everyone inside to leave under threat of weapons, said Hamas-run government media office, adding all families in Beit Hanoun were forced to evacuate, and several young men were arrested
"The new crime was committed under the cover of intense aerial and artillery bombardment and heavy gunfire," the statement read, adding that military vehicles were still present east of Jabalia and Beit Hanoun.
The office urged the international community to hold the Israeli army accountable for displacing residents from their homes, despite their insistence on remaining there amidst inhumane conditions.
So far, Israel has not issued a response to the statement.
Also on Tuesday, the United Nations Human Rights Office expressed serious concern about the increasing violence in the West Bank and called on Israeli security forces to cease their support for settler assaults on Palestinians in the occupied territory without delay.
During the ongoing Gaza conflict, the UN Human Rights Office has decried that Palestinians in the West Bank have been "subjected to waves of attacks by hundreds of Israeli settlers, often accompanied or supported by Israeli security forces".
"The Israeli security forces must immediately end their active participation in and support for settler attacks on Palestinians," UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva.
The recent violence was sparked by the killing of a 14-year-old Israeli boy last weekend, in what authorities said was an anti-Israel attack. Shamdasani pointed out that following the killing, "four Palestinians, including a child, were killed and Palestinian property was destroyed in revenge attacks."
"Israeli authorities must instead prevent further attacks, including by bringing those responsible to account," the spokesperson said.
Shamdasani described the escalating violence in the West Bank as "a matter of grave concern".
She emphasized that "those reasonably suspected of criminal acts, including murder or other unlawful killings, must be brought to justice through a judicial process that complies with international human rights standards, following a prompt, impartial, independent, effective and transparent investigation."
Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
