The Israeli Occupation Forces continued, at dawn on Tuesday, its brazen assault on Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, in a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the international conventions that are meant to protect civilians.
The occupation carried out what eyewitnesses described as “massive” demolition operations in areas under its control east of Khan Younis in the south of the Strip and east of Gaza City in the north, while unmanned aerial vehicles (quad-copter drones) dropped explosive boxes on the remaining homes of Palestinians in Jabalia refugee camp. This was accompanied by sustained shelling from naval gunboats and military vehicles, targeting the coastline of the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.
The death toll from the strike launched by the occupation yesterday, Monday, on a residential apartment in the Al-Nasr neighbourhood, west of Gaza City, has risen to four, bringing the number of those killed since dawn on Monday to six. The bombardment caused extensive damage to the tents of displaced families surrounding the targeted apartment, reflecting the occupation’s complete disregard for civilian life.
From the perspective of international humanitarian law, these blatant attacks constitute grave breaches of the provisions of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols, which explicitly prohibit the targeting of civilians or the destruction of civilian property except for direct military necessity.
Moreover, the use of indiscriminate force against civilian populations constitutes a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which criminalises attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects.
Since the start of the aggression on 8 October 2023, the occupation has caused the killing of more than 72,000 Palestinians and the injury of over 171,000 others, in addition to the destruction of approximately 90 per cent of civilian infrastructure, with reconstruction costs estimated by the United Nations at around 70 billion dollars.
Since the ceasefire agreement came into effect, the occupation has committed hundreds of violations, resulting in the killing of 581 Palestinians and the wounding of 1,553 others, in stark evidence of its contempt for international law and fundamental human rights.
This ongoing aggression constitutes a clear war crime and places the international community before an urgent and pressing responsibility to hold the occupation to account, prevent the continuation of its violations, and ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law and universal human rights conventions.
