The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has documented a dangerous policy of extortion by Israeli forces against families in the Gaza Strip, presenting them with a catastrophic, no-win choice: either collaborate with the Israeli army and its militias, or face mass killing, starvation and forcible displacement. What began as individual extortion has escalated into a systematic, collective practice aimed at dismantling Palestinian social fabric by forcing people to betray their communities and subordinating survivors to survival conditions that destroy communal identity and resilience.
Our field team recorded an unprecedented intensification of Israel’s coercive tactics. The pressure has shifted from targeting individuals to organized collective extortion that places entire families before a horrific equation: join militias created by Israel or face persecution, mass killing, starvation and forced expulsion — a coordinated attempt to eliminate Palestinian society or reduce it to submission under occupation control.
Continue reading at https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6866