Danish report: Displacement is not a side effect of the conflict but a systematic strategy in Gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon
Forced displacement is not an incidental humanitarian crisis, but a systematic and ongoing strategy, whose roots extend from the Nakba to the current aggression against Gaza, passing through the creeping annexation in the West Bank, according to a new report issued by the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) by researchers Ahlam Shamlali, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Politics and Society at Aalborg University, and Lars Erslev Andersen, a senior researcher at DIIS. The report is titled “Anatomy of Displacement: Gaza, the West Bank and South Lebanon.”. Continue reading below Advertisement
The researchers noted that the report is the product of independent study and research conducted by the researchers, and the conclusions and recommendations contained therein do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) or the Danish government.
While the world continues to focus on the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, a report from the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) offers a clear analysis demonstrating that the forced displacement Palestinians are experiencing today is not a side effect of the conflict, but rather a deliberate and ongoing governance strategy rooted in decades of military control and settler colonialism. The report, titled “Anatomy of Displacement,” dissects this phenomenon, linking the mass expulsions of 1948 and the systematic internal displacement in the West Bank to the unprecedented destruction and starvation in Gaza since October 2023.
The 69-page report emphasizes that the purpose of the displacement is to achieve clear political and demographic objectives: first, to dismantle Palestinian society, and second, to reshape the demographic composition to consolidate absolute territorial control. It reframes the displacement from a mere humanitarian emergency to a structural, politically motivated, and legally prohibited act, whose actions align with the definitions of forced transfer, ethnic cleansing, and even ”potential genocide,” which the International Court of Justice is investigating.
The analysis asserts that what is happening in Gaza today is a continuation of the historical trajectory initiated by Israel, noting that the horrific expulsions of the Nakba in 1948 were not a chaotic consequence of war, but rather a deliberate and systematic strategy aimed at establishing a Jewish-majority state by emptying the land. Similarly, the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007 serves as a ”repositioning of control,” transforming the Strip into a vast prison where residents are forced to move from north to south under the threat of bombardment and starvation.
The report also illustrates how starvation and deprivation have become effective tools of coercion used to force people into internal displacement, a practice internationally classified as forced transfer. In this context, the report identifies efforts to dismantle the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as an integral part of this displacement strategy, aiming to strip Palestinians of their refugee status and deny them their right of return, thus entrenching displacement as a permanent reality.
While the displacement strategy in Gaza takes the form of direct and widespread violence, the report explains that in the West Bank it operates through a more “softer” but equally effective set of tools, under the guise of settler colonialism and creeping annexation. This mechanism consists of the violent and ongoing expansion of illegal settlements, supported by the Israeli military, and the systematic demolition of homes in Area C, where Palestinians are prohibited from building, forcing communities to gradually leave their land.
The use of checkpoints, the separation wall, and complex administrative divisions is not only aimed at military control, but also at fragmenting the entire Palestinian space, isolating communities from each other, and restricting access to land and services, making the idea of a geographically contiguous and viable Palestinian state increasingly impossible.
The report concludes that the sustainability of this deportation structure over decades would not have been possible without the complicity and inaction of international actors, who continued to treat this issue as a purely humanitarian crisis, ignoring its political and legal roots. This approach allowed Israel to normalize the displacement, rather than be held accountable for it.
Therefore, the report calls on European governments and the international community to fundamentally shift their response, placing legal accountability and protection at the heart of any political solution. It emphasizes the need for targeted sanctions against settlements and individuals involved in displacement violence, unconditional support for ongoing investigations at the International Criminal Court, and, most importantly, recognition of the right of return for all Palestinian refugees, in accordance with UN Resolution 194, as an indispensable condition for any just and lasting political solution.
