ISRAEL has used mass displacement and relentless military assaults to confine civilians to less than a fifth of the Gaza Strip, a new Oxfam analysis found today.

Since breaking the ceasefire on March 18, Israel has issued over 30 forced displacement orders — nearly one every two days — covering 68 out of 79 neighbourhoods, some multiple times, the charity said.

These, together with the expanding “no-go” Israeli military zones, make up over 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip.

Oxfam says that Israel has extended its military presence along five “security corridors” — Philadelphi, Murag, Kisufim, Netzarim, and Mefalsim — that cut horizontally across the length of Gaza.

The corridors divide the area into five isolated zones that sever the north from the south and restrict civilian movement.

Oxfam policy lead in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Bushra Khalidi said: “For over 600 days, Israel has been saying it’s targeting Hamas, but it is civilians who have been corralled, bombed and killed en masse every day. 

“The displacement orders follow a clear and calculated pattern: using the threat of violence to herd civilians into ever-shrinking zones of confinement. 

“This isn’t counterterrorism, as Israel alleges, it’s the systematic clearing of Gaza through militarised force into enclaves of internment.”

More than 160,000 people were displaced in just one week from May 15 to 20, the charity said.

Ms Khalidi added: “In any other conflict, civilians would have routes to flee to neighbouring areas or countries. 

“In this case, Palestinians are entirely caged under an iron-clad siege, being shoved towards the coastline.”

So-called safe zones include al-Mawasi, a 40 square km strip, which has been struck by Israeli fire repeatedly, including last year in an attack that killed 90. 

Nearly all the areas where civilians are being forcibly relocated entirely lack clean water, sanitation, medical care and basic infrastructure, violating international humanitarian law.

Ms Khalidi continued: “This annihilation campaign and the bloodshed must end. It is long past time for Western governments and other influential powers to move beyond statements and apply meaningful pressure on Israel to lift the siege and abandon any designs on annexing Gaza.

“Peace cannot be brokered on the ruins of Gaza nor the theft of Palestinian land. What’s at stake is not only Palestine’s future, but the integrity of every nation that claims to uphold international law.”