GAZA, (PIC)
The Euro-Med Monitor for Human Rights said that the Israeli occupation army continues for the ninth consecutive month its wide-ranging military attack on the Gaza Strip with the same level and disproportionately destructive methods, committing massacres and collective killings against Palestinian civilians, including within the areas it declared safe zones.
The Euro-Med Monitor highlighted that it documented a clear escalation in the course of the Israeli targeting, whether in terms of bombing homes over the heads of their residents, or targeting the tents of the displaced in the areas that Israel declared humanitarian zones, during the past few days. The peak of the escalation was on Friday, June 21, where more than 67 citizens were martyred and more than 125 others were injured.
According to the field team of the Euro-Med Monitor, the Israeli warplanes and tanks bombed the tents of the displaced in the “Al-Mawasi Rafah” area near the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which led to the martyrdom of 24 Palestinians from the displaced and the injury of 40 others. This is the fourth large-scale massacre committed by the Israeli army against the displaced who were forced to live in tents in the “Al-Mawasi” area due to displacement orders and continuous bombardment during the past month, coinciding with the continuation of its military attack on the city of Rafah since May 7.
The Euro-Med Monitor team also documented four Israeli attacks in less than five hours in the city of Gaza, which led to the killing of 42 Palestinians and the injury of 85 others, most of them women and children, ranging from moderate to serious injuries.
At around 11:00 AM on Friday, according to the documentation of the field team, the Israeli planes bombed employees working in the fuel management room in the Gaza Municipality, which supplies the municipal vehicles, water wells and sewage treatment plants with fuel, despite prior coordination between them and the occupation army to work, and obtaining prior approval of the names of the employees working there. Five municipal employees were martyred in the targeting, as well as a sixth person “a clothes seller” who was at the door of his shop at the time of the targeting, near the municipal garage, in the center of Gaza City.
The second attack happened at around 1:00 PM, when Israeli warplanes bombed a residential house in the Colored Neighborhood in the Old City east of Gaza City, leaving 12 martyrs in addition to a number of wounded. Among the martyrs was a player from the Palestinian Al-Ahli Club, Ahmed Abu Al-Ata, his wife and a number of their children.
The third attack came minutes later at another house on Al-Nazaz Street east of Gaza City, belonging to the Badr family, and left a number of victims.
The fourth attack was around 3:30 PM, in an Israeli targeting of a house belonging to the Saleh family in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, resulting in the martyrdom of seven people and the injury of more than 20 others, mostly women and children, in addition to sporadic targeting of Palestinians in different neighborhoods of the city, leaving 42 dead and 85 injured.
The Euro-Med Monitor indicated that the occupation army continued to target and commit collective murder crimes against Palestinian civilians during the Eidul Al-Adha holiday, whether in their homes or while attempting to make family visits.
The Euro-Med reiterated that the Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip and their devastating consequences, as shown by the alarming statistics of casualties and extent of destruction, confirm that what Israel has done and continues to do constitutes war crimes and crimes against humanity. These actions are part of the crime of genocide being committed against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip for the past nine months. This requires activating all levels of international, legal, and judicial investigations, as well as accountability mechanisms, and serious efforts to hold Israeli leaders and soldiers accountable and prevent them from evading punishment. The victims and their families must be compensated in accordance with the rules of international law.
The Euro-Med Monitor called for holding the United States accountable as a key partner in the commission of crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including the crime of genocide, due to its provision of various forms of military, logistical, operational, and financial support to Israel in its military assault on the Strip. This includes the criminal accountability of all relevant American officials who participated in the related decision-making.
The Euro-Med Monitor renewed its call on all countries to fulfill their international responsibilities by imposing effective sanctions on Israel and stopping all forms of political, financial, and military support and cooperation, including the immediate halt of arms transfers to it and the export licenses and military aid.
