GAZA, (PIC)
The massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) against the displaced in Al-Mawasi Khan Yunis was not an isolated incident, but rather an extension of a recurring pattern of perpetrating genocide against Palestinians, due to the policy of impunity and international immunity enjoyed by Israel.
This is the conclusion reached by three Palestinian human rights organizations in the context of their follow-up on Al-Mawasi Khan Yunis massacre, which the IOF had previously declared a safe and humanitarian area and pushed people to flee to, only to kill them there.
Details of the massacre
According to the statement issued by the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and the Al-Haq Center, around 10:30 am on Saturday, the Israeli aircraft fired no less than 4 missiles towards the beach resort area near the Shorbaji family home in Al-Mawasi Khan Yunis.
The Israeli aircraft also carried out several raids on the lands and the area of the displaced people’s tents surrounding the resort, resulting in its destruction and the destruction of many of the displaced people’s tents, burying them in the sand and under the rubble.
According to the statement, after about 5 minutes, the civil defense vehicles went to the scene of the incident in an attempt to retrieve the bodies of the martyrs and evacuate the injured. As soon as the civil defense vehicle arrived and the crew disembarked, an IOF drone fired a missile in front of their vehicle, resulting in the martyrdom of two civil defense members, one of whom was a volunteer, and the injury of eight others, three of whom were described as being in serious condition, one of whom later died.
The bombing resulted in an initial toll, according to the Ministry of Health, of 90 Palestinians martyred, half of them children and women, and 300 others injured, including dozens of children and women, some in critical and serious condition.
It was confirmed that the number of martyrs is likely to rise, as the search continues for martyrs under the rubble and sand. It was also indicated that among the victims who arrived at the hospital were children, and that some of the victims were reduced to body parts, with some of the injured having their limbs amputated.
The area targeted by the IOF was a densely populated area with displaced people and their tents, and it contained a kitchen for preparing their food, as well as a water station that the displaced people came to for water. The bombing coincided with their active movement in the area.
Unjustified
Human rights organizations confirm that the Israeli claim – which has not been proven – of targeting two prominent Hamas figures does not justify in any way the use of this disproportionate and unnecessary force that led to the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of civilians.
They stressed that the details of the attack, including the launch of several missiles with massive destructive capacity, demonstrate that the IOF used disproportionate fire power in an area it knows is home to tens of thousands of displaced civilians living in dilapidated tents in an area declared by Israel as a humanitarian zone, and to which it has directed the displaced, therefore it was aware of the potential scale of losses from an attack of this type and density.
In this regard, the United Nations Office of Human Rights has pointed to a pattern of intentional disregard for international humanitarian law and the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution, stressing that the claim of the presence of armed groups will not absolve the Israeli army of its obligations to comply with these fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, namely proportionality, distinction, and the necessity of taking precautions.
Repeated Crimes
This is not the first time that the occupation forces have targeted the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, despite declaring it a humanitarian area and directing hundreds of thousands of displaced people to it.
Last Friday, July 12, the Israeli warplanes bombed a social development barracks west of Khan Yunis, resulting in the martyrdom of three aid distribution workers and the injury of others.
On the evening of June 27, 20 residents were martyred and more than 50 others were injured when the IOF advanced under the cover of tank shelling in the Al-Muharrarat Street and set fire to tents in Al-Mawasi.
On the evening of Sunday, May 26, 23 displaced people, including 5 women and 9 children, were martyred, and some of their bodies were burned and torn apart, and dozens more were injured with various wounds and burns, after the Israeli warplanes launched several missiles targeting the area designated for the displaced and near the UNRWA warehouses in the northwest of Rafah. Photos and video clips showed horrific scenes of the charred and dismembered bodies of the victims, including children.
On 10 March earlier this year, 14 civilians were martyred, including two elderly people, one of whom had a physical disability, 3 women, one of whom had a speech and hearing impairment, and 4 children. Others were also injured, including the elderly, women, and children, after the occupation forces stationed west of the city of Hamad, west of Khan Yunis, fired several artillery shells at the tents of the displaced people in the outskirts of Khan Yunis.
On the evening of February 20, the occupation forces carried out a ground attack in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis, under the cover of intense air strikes. The occupation forces withdrew at dawn the following day, after killing 11 Palestinians, including 3 sisters and 3 women. Two of the martyrs, along with 8 wounded, were targeted inside the Doctors Without Borders headquarters located on Al-Rashid Street west of Khan Yunis, which was shelled by those forces.
The human rights institutions conclude that the official international silence and the continued supply of weapons to Israel is complicit in the crimes committed against the Palestinian people, especially in light of the Israeli persistence in committing the crime of genocide.
They called for putting an end to the immunity of the occupation state by stopping the supply of weapons and ammunition to it, and holding accountable the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide.
