Tom Dannenbaum, a law professor at Stanford Law School, said the laws of war require that any controlled demolition of homes be justified by “absolute military necessity,” adding that destroying all homes near the border would not meet that standard. “The unnecessary destruction of property can qualify as a war crime,” he said.

Dannenbaum added that Katz’s comments barring residents from returning home “strongly indicate an illegal policy of long-term or permanent displacement.”