In the early hours of the second day of Eid al-Adha, 34 Palestinians were killed in a series of airstrikes and shootings carried out by the occupying forces in various areas of the Gaza Strip, as part of an ongoing war of extermination that has continued since 7 October 2023.
In western Khan Younis, 12 civilians were killed, including four members of the same family (a father, mother, and two children) and more than 40 others were injured in a bombing that targeted the tents of displaced persons who had sought refuge there after fleeing earlier attacks.
Seven other civilians were killed when a home sheltering displaced people in western Gaza City was bombed.
In a now-daily scene, occupation forces opened direct fire on civilians waiting to receive food aid near a distribution centre in western Rafah, killing six people and injuring others to varying degrees.
Since 27 May, the number of people killed by occupation gunfire while attempting to access food has risen to 115, with more than 580 injured and nine reported missing, which is a clear indicators of a deliberate policy of starving the besieged population.
Yesterday, on the first day of Eid al-Adha, 33 civilians were killed in airstrikes and shelling across various parts of Gaza, reflecting an ongoing escalation that shows no regard for religious or humanitarian occasions.
Since 7 October 2023, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to a full-scale military assault that has left over 180,000 people dead or injured; most of them women and children, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, facing extremely harsh conditions amid the collapse of basic infrastructure and the complete absence of humanitarian protection.
The increasing evidence points to a systematic policy of mass killing, forced displacement, widespread destruction of homes, and deliberate targeting of shelters and civilian gatherings, which are actions that go beyond violations and constitute a fully-fledged crime of genocide under international humanitarian law.
The international community’s silence in the face of these violations, and the continued impunity for perpetrators, only deepens the tragedy and reinforces a reality governed by the law of force at the expense of the most basic principles of humanity and international justice.
