Gaza City, Gaza - Israel's relentlessly brutal military activities along the eastern perimeter of the occupied Gaza Strip should be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

The Israeli military had unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings and razed entire neighborhoods while expanding a "buffer zone," the human rights group said.

Amnesty had analyzed satellite imagery and videos posted by Israeli soldiers on social media between October 2023 and May 2024.

It had revealed a pattern "consistent with the systematic destruction of an entire area," Amnesty's senior director Erika Guevara-Rosas said.

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"The Israeli military's relentless campaign of ruin in Gaza is one of wanton destruction," she said.

"Our research has shown how Israeli forces have obliterated residential buildings, forced thousands of families from their homes and rendered their land uninhabitable."

The creation of any "buffer zone" must not amount to the collective punishment of the Palestinian civilians, Guevara-Rosas said.

"Israel's measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law, including the prohibition of wanton destruction and of collective punishment."

The Israeli military justifies the demolition of buildings in Gaza, among other things, by saying that it will destroy Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure – the same excuse it has given for rendering the territory virtually uninhabitable and killing well over 40,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians.

It faces countless accusation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, up to and including genocide against the Palestinian people.