With 40% of homes destroyed in the strip, legal experts are raising the question of ‘domicide’ – but what it is it, and is it taking place in Gaza?
Since the resumption of Israel’s bombardment, life for civilians in Gaza has become desperate, says the Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger. More than 1.9 million people there have fled their homes, and many have had to then flee again as the bombardment shifts from the north to the south of the territory.
Tented camps are springing up – improvised shelters with no sanitation or heat – and with winter approaching, medical and humanitarian groups warn that starvation and disease may follow. Now, a UN special rapporteur suggests that what is happening could be “domicide” – the deliberate targeting of homes and buildings to make an area uninhabitable.