As part of the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, 32 Palestinians, including an infant, have been killed since dawn today, Saturday.
According to Palestinian medical sources, medical teams and local residents retrieved the bodies of 10 victims from under the rubble of the Al-Ghattas family home in the Al-Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, which was targeted by Israeli airstrikes at dawn.
Other air raids resulted in the killing of two Palestinians in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. Later, two more Palestinians were shot dead by a “quadcopter” drone in two different areas of the Strip. Another young man succumbed to injuries sustained days ago in the bombing of Abu Hmisa School in Al-Bureij refugee camp.
On Saturday morning, Israeli airstrikes also targeted the Al-Bayram family home in Khan Younis, killing a further 11 Palestinians.
An infant was also killed when a tent in the Asda’ area, west of Khan Younis, was bombed. Additionally, two more Palestinians were killed in airstrikes on two tents sheltering displaced persons in Khan Younis.
Legally, what is taking place in Gaza is classified as genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention adopted by the United Nations, which defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” These acts may include killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting living conditions calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.
This brutal war on Gaza constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibits targeting civilians during armed conflicts. According to Article 51 of the First Additional Protocol, “attacks shall be limited strictly to military objectives and shall not be directed against civilians or civilian objects.”
However, with the unwavering support of the United States for the occupation, no effective measures have been taken to stop these systematic violations. The international community remains implicitly complicit, facing increasing criticism for its failure to take concrete steps to hold the occupation accountable for its war crimes and acts of genocide.
The ongoing genocide has so far resulted in the deaths of over 170,000 Palestinians and injuries to more than 170,000 others, most of whom are women and children, in addition to over 11,000 missing persons.
The situation in Gaza shows a continuous escalation in the suffering of Palestinian civilians, with the systematic destruction of residential and humanitarian infrastructure across the Strip, leading to an unprecedented deterioration in humanitarian conditions.
What is happening in Gaza is a genocide growing more barbaric by the day, and there is no doubt that the international community bears responsibility to pressure the occupation to end this war and compel it to respect the human rights of the Palestinian people.
