Despite the official announcement of a ceasefire coming into effect, rescue teams in the Gaza Strip are still recovering the bodies of dozens of civilians from beneath the rubble, in a stark reminder of the scale of atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation over two years of war, documented by international and human rights organisations as systematic acts of genocide against the Palestinian population.
Medical sources reported on Friday that 35 bodies had been retrieved from various areas of the Strip, including 19 in Gaza City and 9 others in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood following an airstrike that targeted a residential home. One civilian was also killed and others injured by occupation forces’ gunfire in the Sheikh Radwan area in the north of the city.
The occupation violated the ceasefire agreement through artillery and air strikes on Khan Younis and eastern Gaza at dawn, coinciding with the flight of drones and helicopters over both cities.
The Israeli government had approved the ceasefire agreement the previous night, based on a proposal by US President Donald Trump, which includes the withdrawal of occupation forces from the Strip, the entry of humanitarian aid, and the commencement of a prisoner exchange process as part of what has been described as the first phase of the “Middle East Peace Plan.”
However, the scenes of devastation and casualties following the ceasefire, according to human rights observers, confirm that what occurred in Gaza cannot be reduced to a “military conflict,” but rather constitutes an act of genocide under the 1948 United Nations Convention, which criminalises any act intended to destroy a national or ethnic group, “in whole or in part.”
During the war that began on 7 October 2023, the occupation forces launched an unprecedented military campaign that resulted in the killing of more than 67,000 Palestinians and the injury of around 170,000 others, most of them women and children, amid a suffocating blockade and famine that claimed the lives of 460 civilians, including 154 children, according to official Palestinian data and UN reports.
Reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and independent investigation committees have confirmed that the repeated targeting of civilians, medical facilities, and refugee shelters, along with the obstruction of humanitarian aid, clearly demonstrates an intent to destroy, the defining element that constitutes the crime of genocide under international law.
In light of this, the case of war crimes committed in Gaza must be referred to the International Criminal Court, to hold Israeli officials accountable for the atrocities committed and ensure they do not escape punishment, as accountability remains a fundamental condition for achieving justice and ending the culture of impunity that has encouraged the repetition of crimes against Palestinian civilians.
