PARIS: Amnesty International Thursday urged a war crimes probe into Israel razing homes and farms in eastern Gaza to expand a so-called buffer zone between it and the Palestinian territory.

“Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighbourhoods, including homes, schools and mosques,” it said.

The London-based rights group said the levelling since the start of the war on October 7 “should be investigated as war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment”.

Israel has in several cases said it was destroying “terror” infrastructure to protect Israeli communities living on the other side of the border fence. It did not reply to a request from Amnesty for comment.

An Amnesty investigation, which examined satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers between October and May, showed “newly cleared land along Gaza’s eastern boundary, ranging from approximately 1 to 1.8 km (0.6 to 1.1 miles) wide”, the group said.

The expanded buffer zone covers around 58 square kilometres (22 square miles), or about 16 percent of the Gaza Strip, it said.

More than 90 percent of buildings within that zone appeared to have been destroyed or severely damaged, it said.

More than half of the agricultural land in the area showed “a decline in health and intensity of crops due to the ongoing conflict”, it added.

“Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of the entire area,” said Amnesty’s Erika Guevara-Rosas.

“The homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area,” she added.

“Israeli measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law.”

Amnesty investigator Barbara Marcolini said the level of destruction was unprecedented.

“It wasn’t like specific buildings had been destroyed, but entire neighbourhoods and farms completely razed to the ground,” she told AFP.

She said footage showing Israeli soldiers posing for pictures or toasting in celebration as buildings were demolished showed there was no imminent threat to them.

“These videos show the demeanour of the soldiers at the time of destruction. They were relaxed, even cheerful, which shows that they were not under any threat,” she said.

“Once you analyse the context, you understand why these destructions should be investigated as war crimes.”

The rights group in particular focused on destruction in the town of Khuzaa in the south of the strip, and the eastern district of Shujaiya in Gaza City.

They also recorded destruction around, and east of, the Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi refugee camps in the centre of that buffer zone, and the villages of Al-Sureij and Abasan al-Kabira in its south.

The United Nations said last month that nearly two-thirds of the buildings in the Gaza Strip had been damaged or destroyed since the war began.