Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has accused Israel of taking advantage of the world’s diverted attention to commit ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza.

B’Tselem is one of the most prominent rights groups in Israel and notably released an eight-page report in January 2021 calling it an apartheid state.

In a statement published on Tuesday, the group said Israel intends to forcibly displace residents of northern Gaza and is committing what it calls some of the gravest crimes under the laws of war.

It said hundreds of thousands of people were “enduring starvation, disease without access to medical care and incessant bombardments and gunfire”, and that Israel had “cut them off from the world”.

Since 5 October, the northern Gaza Strip has been under a near total Israeli siege, with almost no food, clean water or medical supplies entering.

“The few testimonies that have trickled out of northern Gaza describe dead bodies lining the streets, hunger, drinking water nowhere to be found, and civilians being killed as bombs are dropped on their homes without warning or as they flee for their lives.”

Three Israeli reserve soldiers serving in Gaza told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that they believed the “Generals’ Plan”, also known as the Eiland Plan, was being implemented.