The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 20 on Wednesday, including children, with dozens more wounded following heavy artillery bombardment by Israeli occupation forces across various areas, including al-Mawasi in Khan Younis and the al-Zeitoun and al-Tuffah neighbourhoods in eastern Gaza City, as well as displacement zones in Qizan al-Rashwan south of Khan Younis.
Local sources reported that the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced civilians, resulting in the death of a medic and injuries to 10 others.
Earlier this morning, 18 additional civilians, four of them children, were killed as Israeli artillery struck homes and tents in eastern Gaza City and southern Khan Younis.
Fourteen of the victims, including three children, were killed in the al-Zeitoun and al-Tuffah neighbourhoods, while four others, including one child, died in the bombardment of displacement tents in Qizan al-Rashwan. The high number of civilian casualties highlights a continued pattern of indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks that place civilians at direct risk.
Since the ceasefire agreement in October, Israeli attacks have resulted in 529 deaths—many of them women and children,and over 1,460 injuries. These figures underline the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which remains under siege and subject to relentless attacks on civilians and infrastructure.
Targeting civilians, residential homes, and displacement camps is a clear violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, which mandate the protection of civilians during armed conflict.
The killing of medics and destruction of medical facilities, as seen in the latest attack that killed a paramedic, constitutes a war crime under international law.
Indiscriminate or disproportionate shelling that results in civilian deaths breaches the principles of distinction and proportionality, which all military forces are obliged to uphold during hostilities.
These repeated violations demonstrate the Israeli occupation’s disregard for its legal obligations towards the civilian population in Gaza. They also underscore the urgent need for international accountability to address and deter further breaches.
The continued bombardment reflects a broader failure of the international community to enforce effective protections for civilians, highlighting the need to re-evaluate mechanisms for monitoring and holding perpetrators accountable for these serious violations.
