Palestinian Territory – The Israeli army's establishment of permanent, fortified military sites in the Gaza Strip near the Yellow Line is an extremely dangerous escalation. The Israeli-imposed Yellow Line isolates about 55 per cent of the Gaza Strip and places it under direct Israeli control.
This forms part of a systematic policy to impose a permanent fait accompli, paving the way for the de facto annexation of large parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, destroying what remains of its territorial integrity, and entrenching Israel's unlawful presence.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor documented a marked acceleration in the construction of fixed, fortified Israeli military sites just metres from Salah al-Din Road in eastern Gaza, near the Yellow Line. The sites consist of elevated mounds and embankments spanning large areas, with troops and military vehicles stationed there, along with radio towers, watchtowers, and other logistical equipment. This indicates an effort to entrench a permanent military presence and impose new facts on the ground.
The newly established Israeli military sites were built on the ruins of Palestinian homes, farmland, and other property, after comprehensive and systematic campaigns of destruction, bulldozing, and land levelling by the Israeli army
The Euro-Med Monitor field team confirmed the establishment of at least 20 military sites of varying size in eastern Gaza, reflecting an accelerated effort to impose facts on the ground and consolidate long-term control over large parts of the Gaza Strip in preparation for annexation. This directly contradicts the requirements of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which was meant to lead to an Israeli withdrawal rather than an expanded deployment and a more fortified military presence.
These newly established Israeli military sites were built on the ruins of Palestinian homes, farmland, and other property, after comprehensive and systematic campaigns of destruction, bulldozing, and land levelling by the Israeli army. The operations affected entire towns and neighbourhoods and radically altered their geography, aiming to erase their Palestinian character and convert them into barracks and military zones that entrench Israel's unlawful presence and control over the land.
Israeli policies in the Gaza Strip form part of a broader settler-colonial system targeting Palestinian land and people. The military sites and the Yellow Line are among the latest tools used to isolate large areas of Gaza and place them under direct Israeli military control, facilitating the de facto annexation of parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. This constitutes an ongoing act of aggression and a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and the peremptory prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force, and directly undermines the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter.
These military sites appear designed to prevent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from returning to their areas by isolating large parts of the enclave, restricting access to them, and undermining the conditions necessary for life there. This contributes to the depopulation of the land and the imposition of demographic and geographic change, as a direct extension of Israel's policy of land seizure and the displacement of Palestinians.
Additionally, these practices may constitute grave breaches of the rules governing belligerent occupation, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations.
An occupying power may not reshape occupied territory or impose permanent changes to its legal or physical status, and it may not destroy property except in the narrow, exceptional, and temporary circumstances required by imperative military necessity.
These acts also involve conduct explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law, including the forcible transfer or deportation of protected persons from occupied territory. Such acts constitute war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population and may also fall under the Genocide Convention when accompanied by specific intent to destroy.
Euro-Med Monitor's field team documented a recurring pattern of gunfire and tank shelling from these military sites targeting civilians, including residents near the Yellow Line and people in neighbourhoods hosting tents for displaced families. This indicates that the sites are used not only to impose control over land, but also to endanger daily civilian life and to target people as they move or try to reach aid.
These military sites pose a direct and serious threat to civilians travelling along Salah al-Din Road in eastern Gaza, one of the few vital routes connecting the Strip's governorates. Euro Med Monitor reported repeated shootings from these sites, including an incident on the morning of Monday, 6 April, in which 52-year-old Majdi Mustafa Ibrahim Aslan, a contractor with the World Health Organization, was killed, in a blatant violation of the protection owed to civilians and the heightened protection associated with humanitarian work.
Israeli forces are using these military sites to provide cover fire for armed groups operating under their direction and supervision, while systematically targeting Gaza's civil police and hindering their ability to perform their duties. This dismantles local structures that maintain public order, creating a deliberate security vacuum in densely populated civilian areas.
This pattern is dangerous not only because it escalates violations, but because it creates a structure of violence in which the actions of the occupying power overlap with those of irregular armed groups. That overlap can blur responsibility, complicate accountability, entrench impunity, and leave civilians subjected to violence, control, and coercion by multiple actors without effective protection.
The international community must take immediate, effective action to halt ongoing Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip and reject any measures or on-the-ground arrangements that entrench forced demographic or geographic change, reduce the enclave's area, or fragment it. Allowing such measures to continue would consolidate unlawful realities imposed by force and risk turning them into a permanent fait accompli.
Israel must fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip and end its unlawful presence across all occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in line with the International Court of Justice finding that this presence must end as rapidly as possible and in compliance with the United Nations General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to do so without delay.
Euro-Med Monitor calls for the immediate, comprehensive lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, the opening of crossings, and the ensuring of full, safe, and sustained humanitarian access to all parts of the enclave. The blockade, the denial of essential goods, and restrictions on humanitarian space are not mere pressure tactics, but grave violations of international law that heighten the risks of forced displacement, starvation, and societal collapse.
States' obligations do not end with political condemnation; they require practical measures to stop violations. These include imposing targeted sanctions, halting any military, security, logistical, or intelligence cooperation that could directly or indirectly help maintain the unlawful situation, and refraining from providing any aid, assistance, or recognition that would legitimise de facto annexation or unlawful occupation. Euro-Med Monitor calls for collective action through the United Nations to ensure accountability and end this unlawful situation.
