Inhumane Zones: An assessment of Israel’s actions with respect to the provision of aid, shelter, safe passage, and assistance to evacuees in Gaza; response to questions raised in the ICJ on 17 May 2024

In the 17 May ICJ hearing, Judge Georg Nolte asked the following question to the Israeli legal team: ‘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?’. Forensic Architecture (FA) investigated and assessed Israel’s actions in relation to its humanitarian responsibilities — the creation of ‘humanitarian zones’ with adequate provisions for shelter, sustenance, and medical aid, and the facilitation of safe passage to them — since 6 May, when its long-threatened invasion of the city of Rafah and the surrounding areas began. We have assessed these actions in view of the patterns of Israeli military conduct since 7 October 2023.