Unlawful Nature of North Sinai Demolitions
Forced evictions or transfers of a civilian population on the one hand and home demolitions and dispossession of private property on the other are related but distinctive issues. International human rights law and international humanitarian law generally prohibit both when imposed by state authorities, except as measures of last resort to protect civilians or for “absolute” military necessity. Human Rights Watch has previously described how the situation in North Sinai since 2014 amounts to a non-international armed conflict, to which laws of war apply. Hostilities at an intense level beyond sporadic disturbances have continued for years. The government has mobilized tens of thousands of troops, including infantry, air, and naval forces, and all parties to the conflict have organized command structures. Ordering unlawful forcible displacement of civilian populations and the extensive seizure and destruction of their homes and farms can constitute violations of laws of war that are serious enough to amount to war crimes.