GAZA, (PIC)
Testimonies from survivors of the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces in northern Gaza reveal unprecedented atrocities, including field executions and forced displacement under heavy fire. These acts constitute one of the gravest humanitarian disasters in modern history.
Tamam Al-Muqadama, an elderly woman from Beit Lahia, is one of the witnesses to the field executions. She recounts the horrors she and her family endured when they were forcibly displaced from their home on Al-Shemaa Street under intense artillery and air bombardment.
The 60-year-old said: “When the situation on Al-Shemaa Street deteriorated due to relentless shelling, we moved from our home near Al-Shemaa Clinic to Abbas Kilani’s house in the middle of Al-Shemaa Street. I went to my married sister’s house, who is from the Omar family, as did my other sister Haifa, her husband Khaled Al-Shafi’i, and their nine children.”
Field Executions
The family gathered in a two-story house: Haifa’s family stayed on the ground floor, while Tamam, her family, and her other sister (married to the Omar family) stayed upstairs. On November 13, 2024, Israeli occupation forces advanced into the area where the three families were sheltered.
“We were trapped. Within two hours, the occupation forces blew up the house door and stormed in,” Tamam recounted to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. “We remained upstairs while my sister Haifa, her husband Khaled (58), and their children were downstairs.”
She continued: “We heard gunfire but were too terrified to check what was happening. We huddled in one room upstairs. Minutes later, soldiers ordered us to evacuate toward the eastern area near Beit Lahia Stadium and Abu Tammam School.”
Upon descending to the ground floor, Tamam found her brother-in-law Khaled dead, with two gunshots to his abdomen, and his eldest son Ibrahim (21) shot in the head. “I stood frozen in shock until a soldier threatened to shoot me if I didn’t move. There were about 26 of us. My sister Haifa collapsed due to the killing of her husband and son, begging to say goodbye to them, but the 12 soldiers present in the house refused her request.”
She added, “We hurried out of the house as a drone hovered overhead, surrounded by 15 soldiers outside. My sister kept repeating, ‘They executed them in front of me.’ On the way out, Haifa said that the moment the soldiers stormed the house, they shot her husband and son without warning as they stood in the corner of the room.”
Haifa, Khaled’s wife, confirmed in her testimony to the monitor, “They ordered us to leave immediately. I tried to pull my husband and son, but they threatened to shoot anyone who approached them. My children, four boys and four girls, witnessed their father and brother executed before their eyes.”
Haifa and her children remain in severe psychological shock, refusing to speak to anyone. As of the Monitor’s documentation, Khaled and Ibrahim’s bodies remain in the house where they were executed, as neither the family nor rescue teams have been able to retrieve them.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has documented dozens of deliberate killings and new field executions carried out by Israeli occupation forces against civilians in northern Gaza as part of its escalating genocide against Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
Siege and forced starvation
For 43 days, northern Gaza has endured a fiery Israeli siege characterized by relentless aerial and artillery bombardment, forced starvation, and the prevention of humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies. Families are forcibly displaced from their homes, with the northern governorate completely isolated from the rest of Gaza in what is one of the largest ethnic cleansing operations in modern history.
The rights group emphasizes that thousands of Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza are suffering from hunger and fear, with many dying slowly due to the lack of life-saving medical care. The Monitor also documented dozens of victims who died under the rubble of their bombed homes due to the absence of rescue teams, as Israeli forces have disrupted their operations for 25 consecutive days.
Forced starvation and execution
In his testimony, A.J. described the horrors faced by residents of Beit Lahia, detailing the Israeli military’s tactics of forced starvation and field executions.
“For 10 days, Beit Lahia has endured an extensive Israeli campaign,” he said. “The army forcibly displaces residents to designated gathering points, arrests some, and orders the rest to move eastward.”
Currently, Beit Lahia’s residents are concentrated in three overcrowded shelters near Beit Lahia Municipal Stadium: Abu Tammam School, Beit Lahia Preparatory School, and Beit Lahia Secondary School. A.J. himself sleeps at the entrance of Abu Tammam School due to the overcrowding.
His wife, who suffered a severe injury, sleeps on the floor despite needing a bed. “Anyone attempting to stay in their home is shelled, forcing them out,” he said.
He described the dire food situation: “No food is available for the 5,000 people in the shelters. People risk their lives to scavenge for food from abandoned homes, with many shot dead in the streets while trying.”
Dogs devouring victims’ bodies
A Palestinian witness from the Hamouda family managed to return to his home near the western roundabout to retrieve a bag of flour. He said: “On the way back, I saw dogs eating the bodies of five young men I knew from the Zayed and Rajab families.”
He added, “The flour bag lay next to one of the victims, who must have been shot by the army as he returned to the shelter with it. Any food we retrieve is rationed to children first, then to the elderly. Young men get at most one loaf of bread per day.”
International failure
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor condemned the international community’s inaction, describing it as complicit in Israel’s crimes and providing a green light for the ongoing genocide. It highlighted the failure of international organizations, including the International Criminal Court, the EU, and various UN agencies, to protect civilians and stop the genocide.
The Monitor called on the UN and the global community to urgently intervene, halt Israel’s genocide in northern Gaza, impose a total arms embargo, and hold it accountable for its crimes, ensuring protection for Palestinian civilians.
