The IMEU strongly discourages journalists from using the term “evacuate” to describe Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza City and elsewhere. 

“Evacuate” is a euphemism used by Israel to obscure the fact that it is engaged in a campaign of forced displacement, or ethnic cleansing, which is a war crime. 

The Israeli government recently approved a plan to fully occupy Gaza City and force out hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the latest stage of its campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Netanyahu and senior ministers in his government have repeatedly made their intentions clear: They are destroying Gaza to make it uninhabitable and forcing Palestinians to the south where they will be left with no choice but to leave or die. As Netanyahu explained to a closed-door parliamentary hearing in May:

“[Israel is] destroying more and more houses [in Gaza and Palestinians accordingly] have nowhere to return… The only obvious result will be Gazans choosing to emigrate outside of the Strip.”

Israel has already driven almost the entire population from their homes and laid waste to most of Gaza in one of the most destructive military campaigns in history.

Instead of “evacuate” the IMEU recommends using terms such as “ethnically cleanse,” “forcibly displace,” “expel” etc.