In yet another episode of the genocide carried out by the occupation against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, 41 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured since dawn on Friday as a result of aerial and ground bombardment, along with the demolition of homes and civilian properties.
These crimes come as part of the ongoing assault since 7 October 2023, which aims to empty the Strip of its population through systematic killing, starvation, and forced displacement.
According to eyewitnesses and medical sources, the attacks included direct targeting of civilian homes, tents of the displaced, and aid distribution points—constituting a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits assaults on protected populations during times of conflict.
In Rafah, in the south of the Strip, occupation soldiers opened fire on Palestinians near an aid distribution centre, killing two instantly.
In Gaza City, warplanes bombed the family home of al-Nimr in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, killing five people and injuring others. Another strike targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the al-Sudaniya area, northwest of the Strip, killing four more.
Meanwhile, in the al-Zeitoun neighbourhood in south-eastern Gaza, two Palestinians were killed in an airstrike that targeted a civilian gathering. Overnight, occupation forces also carried out widespread demolitions using explosive-laden robots in al-Zeitoun, al-Sabra, al-Saftawi, and al-Nazla neighbourhoods, in tandem with heavy artillery shelling that caused further casualties.
In central Gaza, a home in Deir al-Balah was struck, killing two people, while a drone attack killed three farmers as they worked their land east of the city. In al-Bureij camp, an airstrike killed one person and injured several others after targeting the home of the al-Qarinawi family.
Around the so-called Netzarim corridor, occupation soldiers opened fire on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid, killing three. A child was also shot dead by the occupation while near tents of the displaced west of Khan Younis, while five more—including a woman—were killed in strikes that targeted two displacement tents in the same area.
These systematic practices reflect a deliberate policy of exterminating Palestinian civilians, encompassing not only bombing and direct killing, but also systematic starvation through targeting aid distribution points and preventing the arrival of food and medicine.
Since the beginning of this war of extermination, the occupation has caused the deaths of 62,966 people and the injury of 159,266 others—most of them women and children—in addition to more than 9,000 missing persons. Hundreds of thousands continue to endure tragic conditions of forced displacement. Famine has also claimed the lives of 317 people, including 121 children, representing yet another face of the genocide being carried out against Palestinians in Gaza.
These actions constitute a clear violation of the four Geneva Conventions, particularly the absolute prohibition on targeting civilians and destroying property without military necessity. They also place the occupation under liability for the crime of genocide, with its constituent elements of mass killing, starvation, systematic destruction, and forced displacement.
