GAZA(Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli army has increased its targeting of schools that are providing shelter for the displaced people in Gaza City, killing and wounding hundreds of them in the process in a systematic effort to drive residents from their homes and places of displacement and rob them of any stability out of revenge, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement issued on Friday.
In just eight days, Israeli aircraft attacked nine schools in Gaza City that served as shelters for thousands of displaced people. They destroyed the schools above the heads of the occupants, killing 79 Palestinians and injuring 143 more—the majority of whom were women and children—in addition to several other victims who were buried beneath the rubble and were never able to be retrieved due to the lack of the necessary tools.
The latest of these attacks occurred on Thursday, August 8, at 3:00 p.m. when Israeli aircraft bombed the “Al-Zahraa” and “Abdul Fattah Hamouda” schools in the “Al-Tuffah” neighborhood east of Gaza City, where thousands of displaced people are housed. The attack resulted in the deaths of 17 civilians and the injuries of dozens more, many of whom were women and children. 16 more were reportedly missed under the rubble.
Last Sunday, August 4, Israeli aircraft bombed the “Al-Nasr” and “Hassan Salama” schools in Gaza City, killing 30 Palestinians and wounding 19 others. The day before, Israeli planes attacked four schools in the “Sheikh Radwan” neighborhood of eastern Gaza that were being used as shelter centers; 17 Palestinians were killed and 60 others were injured in the attack. Earlier this month, Israeli aircraft bombed the “Dalal Al-Maghribi” school in the “Shuja’iyya” neighborhood of eastern Gaza, leaving 15 more deaths and 29 injuries.
The Euro-Med said that the bombing and destruction of these schools above the heads of the displaced people inside them had no real justification and was not necessary for military purposes.
The Euro-Med field team’s initial investigations indicate that the Israeli army deliberately destroyed the remaining shelter centers to deny the Palestinians the few remaining places to seek refuge after the systematic destruction of homes and shelters, including schools and public facilities, over the past ten months.
By continuing to bomb the entire Gaza Strip and concentrating on shelters, such as those housed in UNRWA schools, the Israeli bombing strategy indicates a clear policy intended to deprive Palestinians of security and stability, if only temporarily.
In the course of their ten-month military attack on the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces continued to bomb civilian targets, kill large numbers of civilians, target refugee centers—the majority of which are housed in UN facilities—and carry out mass murders there, all of which are considered crimes against humanity and full-fledged war crimes.
The last four days have seen new forced evacuation orders for tens of thousands of residents in Khan Yunis, the central governorate, and northern Gaza. These events coincide with the policy of bombing shelter centers in Gaza City, suggesting that Israel is purposefully stepping up the evacuation orders to force Palestinians to leave their destroyed homes and not resettle even in nearby tents.
Accordingly, the Euro-Med called on all countries to fulfil their international obligations by enacting effective sanctions against Israel and ceasing all forms of military, political, and financial assistance. This includes immediately cutting off arms exports to Israel, otherwise, these nations will be found to be complicit in crimes that have been committed in the Gaza Strip, including genocide.
