Amnesty International said today, Tuesday, that the Israeli forces have shown horrific disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians by launching a number of airstrikes that, in some cases, targeted residential buildings, killing entire families - including children - and causing the deliberate destruction of civilian property. , In attacks that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
The organization has documented 4 fatal attacks launched by Israel on residential homes without prior warning, and the organization urges the International Criminal Court to urgently investigate these attacks.
The continuous Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip resulted in the death of 220 Palestinians, including 61 children and 36 women, while about 1,400 were wounded.
In contrast, 10 people were killed in Israel - including two children - and at least 27 others were injured in Palestinian attacks.
"There is an alarming pattern emerging of Israel launching air strikes on Gaza targeting residential buildings and families' homes, which in some cases led to the burial of entire families under the rubble when the buildings collapsed," said Saleh Hijazi, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Regional Office at Amnesty International. They lived in them, and in the cases documented below, no prior warning was given to the civilian population to allow them to leave the place. "
Hegazy added, "Under international humanitarian law, all parties must distinguish between military targets and civilian targets, directing their attacks only at military targets, and when carrying out attacks, the parties must take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians."
He continued, "Although the Israeli army has not provided any explanation of the nature of the military objectives it was targeting in these attacks, it is difficult to imagine how the bombing of residential buildings crowded with civilian families without prior notice could be considered a proportionate act under international humanitarian law. Explosive weapons cannot be used." "As large as aircraft bombs, with an explosion range of several hundreds of meters, in populated areas without expecting major civilian casualties."
"By carrying out these blatant, deadly attacks on families' homes without prior warning, Israel has shown a blatant contempt for the lives of Palestinian civilians, who previously suffered collective punishment due to the illegal Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007," Hegazy said.
220 Palestinians were killed, including 61 children and 36 women, while about 1,400 were wounded (Reuters)
The Israeli army claims that it only attacks military targets, and has justified air strikes on residential buildings on this basis, but residents of the buildings that were targeted told Amnesty International that there were no fighters or military targets in the vicinity at the time the documented attacks occurred.
Hegazy said, "Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian property and infrastructure are war crimes, as are disproportionate attacks. The International Criminal Court has an ongoing investigation into the situation in Palestine, and it must investigate these attacks quickly as war crimes, and states should also consider these attacks." In exercising universal jurisdiction over those who commit war crimes, impunity only fuels the pattern of unlawful attacks and civilian bloodshed, which we documented repeatedly during previous Israeli military attacks on Gaza.
Since May 11, at least 152 residential properties have been destroyed in Gaza, according to the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, a Gaza-based human rights organization.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, the Israeli strikes destroyed 94 buildings, including 461 residential and commercial units, while 285 housing units were severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 2,500 people have become homeless due to the destruction of their homes, and more than 38,000 people have been internally displaced and sought refuge in 48 schools of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in various parts of Gaza.
Amnesty International previously published evidence that the Israeli army pursued a deliberate policy of targeting families' homes during the 2014 conflict.
The Israeli army claims that it only attacks military targets (Reuters)
Devastating attacks
In one of the heaviest bombing episodes since the start of the recent fighting, Israel launched air strikes on residential buildings and streets in Gaza City between 1 and 2 a.m. on May 16, and the attacks destroyed two residential buildings belonging to the Abu Al-Auf and Colak families, killing 30 people. Among them are 11 children.
The Ministry of Labor building in Gaza was also destroyed in the attacks, and as a result of the same attack, one of the main roads leading to Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which is the main hospital in Gaza City, was closed.
The families residing in the 4-storey Abu Al Auf building - which houses apartments and shops - received no prior warning, and were all buried under the rubble in the attack.
The paramedic at the Shifa Medical Complex, Yusef Yassin, was one of the first to arrive at the site of the Abu Al Auf building after the attack. He, along with the Red Crescent team, helped pull the survivors out from under the rubble, describing the scene to Amnesty International as “massive destruction”.
"I helped remove 4 bodies, but the number was much greater," Youssef says. "The situation was very difficult. There was no prior warning, so people were sitting in their homes together. This is a very active area."
Shortly before midnight on May 14, Israeli air strikes hit a three-story building for the Al-Attar family in Beit Lahiya, killing 28-year-old Lamia Hassan Muhammad Al-Attar, and her three children, Islam (7) and Amira (6). And the baby, Muhammad, 8 months old.
Hassan Al-Attar (Lamia's father) - who is an officer in the civil defense - told Amnesty International that he went to the scene of the attack in an ambulance accompanied by a rescue team after one of his relatives called him to inform him of the attack. With his wife and children. "
And he continues, "I arrived at the 3-storey house - in which 20 people live - I tried to find one, but I could not, then the rescue team arrived to help and we found my daughter in the end (a mother of 3) with her children - one of them is a baby - under one of the pillars of the house. They are all dead, it seems that the rest of the population managed to escape from the hatch after the bombing and arrived at the hospital, I was shocked. "
In addition to residential homes, Israeli attacks have destroyed water and electricity infrastructure as well as medical facilities, and halted operations of the seawater desalination plant in North Gaza, which supplies more than 250,000 people.