News - Middle East: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced the Egyptian military’s ongoing demolitions and forced evictions in the restive North Sinai region, saying the practices constitute “violations of international humanitarian law” and likely amount to “war crimes.”

“Over the past seven years in North Sinai, the Egyptian army has unlawfully evicted tens of thousands of residents, destroying their homes, farms, and livelihoods,” Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East and North Africa director of the New York-based rights organization, said on Wednesday.

“The demolitions and evictions reflect an abusive official mentality that dismisses the well-being of Sinai residents, which is key to the region’s security and stability,” he said.

The remarks came after HRW analysis of satellite imagery revealed that the Egyptian army had destroyed over 12,000 buildings — mostly homes — in the conflict-ridden North Sinai Province between 2013 and 2020. It also found widespread house demolitions, farmland loss, and the construction of security installations and resettlement sites.

The rights group also found that the compensation process had been opaque, slow, and lacking independent review or appeal mechanisms. Thousands of people were never listed for compensation or have yet to receive any.

Source: Press TV