Israeli Legal Scholars Condemn Proposed Humanitarian City in Rafah as War Crime

Tel aviv: A group of scholars and lecturers at Israeli law faculties specializing in international law and the laws of armed conflict have expressed their unequivocal professional position, warning against the clear and explicit illegality inherent in the Israeli plan to concentrate the population of Gaza in a so-called 'humanitarian city' to be established on the ruins of Rafah. According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, this plan was presented by the Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, on July 7, 2025, and is reportedly endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a broader plan to 'encourage emigration' from Gaza. In a letter dated July 10, sixteen legal professors and lecturers addressed Minister Katz and Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, warning that the proposed plan to construct the camp atop the ruins of Rafah, which Israel has largely destroyed, represents a clear and explicit legal violation. The letter stated that "if implemented, the plan would constitute a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and under certain conditions, could amount to the crime of genocide." Minister Katz outlined the plan to initially concentrate approximately 600,000 Palestinians, mainly from the Al-Mawasi area, in the city, with a future goal of including the entire population of the Gaza Strip. He noted, "The Palestinians will be admitted after screening and will not be allowed to leave," further stating that one of the plan's objectives is to encourage emigration from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli public broadcaster reported that the so-called city would be located between the Philadelphi Corridor and Morag, in southern Gaza, designed to house all Palestinians in Gaza, with mechanisms to promote what Israeli officials claim as 'voluntary emigration' from the Strip. The letter emphasized this constitutes a war crime of forcible transfer and deportation and, due to the systematic and widespread nature of the plan, represents a crime against humanity in the form of deportation or forcible tr ansfer. Additionally, the letter highlighted that the plan constitutes a crime against humanity of severe deprivation of liberty, violating fundamental rules of international law due to the prohibition on leaving the area. It also represents the crime against humanity of persecution, resulting from the grave deprivation of fundamental rights based on collective identity, alongside the declared intent to encourage emigration. The signatories urged that any directive to prepare or advance the establishment of a 'humanitarian city' in Gaza constitutes a manifestly illegal order, which must not be followed. They concluded by calling on all relevant authorities to publicly renounce, disavow, and ensure that the plan is not implemented.