The ongoing campaign of genocide waged by the Israeli occupation against the population of the Gaza Strip continues unabated. On the morning of Thursday, 19 Palestinians were killed, including 16 civilians, as they waited for humanitarian aid in central Gaza while suffering total siege and catastrophic living standards.
According to medical sources, the bodies of 16 victims and dozens of injured Palestinians were received by Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospitals. They were killed and wounded by direct gunfire and explosive projectiles launched by Israeli occupation forces at crowds gathered near the Netzarim corridor awaiting the distribution of aid.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that Israeli forces stationed in the area opened heavy machine-gun fire on hundreds of young men, followed by drone strikes that dropped explosive devices. This resulted in a high number of casualties, many of whom were left without medical attention for hours due to the intensity of the bombardment and the extreme danger in the area.
This attack is part of a long series of assaults targeting civilians, especially the most vulnerable groups, as part of a systematic campaign of mass killing, starvation, and humiliation, which is an attempt to forcibly depopulate Gaza and impose new demographic realities through violence.
In a related incident, a medical source reported the killing of three more Palestinians and the injury of an unspecified number following a helicopter strike that targeted a residential apartment near Palestine Mosque in central Gaza City.
Since 7 May, the occupation has been implementing a plan to distribute aid through an entity known as the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” backed by the Israeli authorities and the U.S. administration. This initiative operates without UN or international oversight and constitutes a clear violation of humanitarian standards. Local reports indicate that the plan has led to the deaths of over 300 Palestinians and the injury of thousands, amid accusations that aid is being used as a trap to lure and target civilians.
Since 7 October 2023, the occupation has subjected Gaza’s residents to a comprehensive policy of starvation, terror, and the systematic destruction of infrastructure and society, coupled with indiscriminate bombing and the deliberate killing of civilians, in blatant violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.
These policies clearly meet the legal criteria for genocide, which is not limited to killing but also includes acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, including the imposition of living conditions calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.
To date, this genocidal war has resulted in over 185,000 Palestinian casualties, the vast majority of whom are women and children. Thousands more remain missing, either buried under the rubble or lost without trace, amid the absence of effective international protection or accountability.
Gaza is not going through a conflict; rather a textbook case of genocide which is being carried out in plain sight. It demands urgent action that goes beyond verbal condemnation to serious measures capable of halting this mass slaughter.
