HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) today accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The New York-based international rights group alleges in a new report released today that Israel is also guilty of massive forced displacements that amount to ethnic cleansing.

HRW said that people have been killed while evacuating under Israeli orders and in Israeli-designated humanitarian zones, where hundreds of thousands are crammed into squalid tent camps.

The report said that the widespread, deliberate demolition of homes and civilian infrastructure in Gaza — some of them to carve a new road bisecting the territory and establish a buffer zone along Israel's border — was likely to permanently displace many Palestinians.

HRW said: “Such actions of the Israeli authorities amount to ethnic cleansing.”

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report.

Israel’s assault on the Palestinians in Gaza has killed over 43,000 people, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.

About 90 per cent of the territory’s population has fled their homes, with many displaced multiple times. The Israeli offensive has also damaged or destroyed around two-thirds of homes and other buildings in Gaza, according to United Nations assessments.

Israel claims that it does not deliberately target civilians and blames Hamas for allegedly hiding among civilians.

HRW highlights how Israeli evacuation orders have often caused “grave harm” to civilians.

The group says people have been killed while evacuating and in Israeli-designated humanitarian zones, where hundreds of thousands are crammed into squalid tent camps.

Nadia Hardman, refugee and migrant rights researcher at HRW, said: “The Israeli government cannot claim to be keeping Palestinians safe when it kills them along escape routes, bombs so-called safe zones, and cuts off food, water, and sanitation.”

HRW said it is calling on governments to stop supplying weapons to Israel and to comply with a July opinion by the International Court of Justice saying Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.

Meanwhile, Israel says 15 lorries loaded with aid have been allowed into northern Gaza, where aid groups have warned that its offensive could cause a famine.

The military body handling aid deliveries into the territory said that the lorries entered Gaza on Wednesday. 

UN agencies did not immediately confirm that the aid was delivered to its destination inside northern Gaza.