In keeping with the string of genocidal crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip, 33 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed in the massacre that targeted a residential area in the Nuseirat camp in the centre of the Strip. In addition, over 84 people are still missing and injured.
This massacre is part of a genocide campaign that is a blatant violation of both the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, which require the parties to a conflict to protect and refrain from attacking civilians.
For over a year, Israel has been systematically attacking Gaza, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties and extensive destruction while completely paralysing the Strip’s humanitarian and health infrastructure.
“A residential area that includes several buildings crowded with civilians, most of whom are from the Sheikh Ali family, was targeted by the occupation army, resulting in the complete destruction of the area and dozens of victims between dead and wounded,” the government media office in Gaza said in a statement.
The Israeli occupation army “had prior knowledge of the presence of women, children, and elderly people in these buildings,” the statement emphasised.
It noted that due to the oppressive siege on the Strip, which has resulted in a severe shortage of medical supplies and rescue personnel, ambulance and civil defence teams are still searching for the missing under the debris in challenging conditions.
The statement urged the international community and international human rights organisations to “take immediate action to condemn these horrific crimes and take measures to stop the war and save civilians,” characterising the massacre as “part of a systematic policy aimed at ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”
The media office went on to say: “The crimes against the Palestinian people are entirely the fault of the Israeli occupation, the US government that backs it, and the complicit nations.”
Alongside this massacre, the Israeli occupation continued to ignore two arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against former Defence Minister Yoav Galant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Additionally, the occupation disregarded a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire and an improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
More than 11,000 Palestinians have gone missing and over 151,000 have been killed and injured since the Israeli aggression began on October 7, 2023, with the majority of those killed being women and children.
Among the worst humanitarian crises of our time, famine and shortages of essential supplies have also claimed the lives of dozens of children and the elderly.
In order to enforce adherence to international law, hold those accountable for these crimes accountable, and immediately lift the blockade on Gaza to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and preserve as many innocent civilian lives as possible, the war of extermination in Gaza necessitates immediate international action.
