GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemned Israeli occupation forces’ attack on Wednesday evening on a temporary municipal police headquarters in central Gaza City, which killed eight police officers, including two female officers, as well as a child who was inside a nearby municipal park. Eighteen Palestinians were also wounded, some critically.
The attack came just hours after Israeli forces detained a police officer and a security employee in southern Gaza.
In a statement on Thursday, PCHR said the attack was part of a recurring pattern of targeting police and security personnel responsible for maintaining public order in the Gaza Strip, alongside continued attacks on civilians, displacement tents, markets and civilian gatherings across Gaza.
The center said an Israeli special forces unit accompanied by military dogs infiltrated the Regional Park area southwest of Al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, at around 1:45 am on Wednesday and detained two Palestinians before taking them to an unknown location.
PCHR identified the detainees as Sabri Atwa Shehda Abdel Aal, 46, a police officer, and Nashat Mustafa Suleiman Zaarab, 34, an employee of Al-Aqsa Security Company for Guarding and Logistics Services.
The center said the detention and targeting of police personnel were connected to repeated Israeli attacks on police officers and their facilities, weakening institutions responsible for maintaining public order at a time when security and humanitarian conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate.
Repeated targeting of Gaza police
PCHR said it has documented dozens of Israeli attacks on police personnel and facilities across the Gaza Strip.
It warned that repeatedly targeting police and security personnel while they are stationed at police posts or carrying out public-order duties raises serious concerns about a policy targeting civilian institutions responsible for organizing daily life and maintaining internal security.
The center said weakening these institutions directly affects Palestinians’ ability to access a minimum level of security and essential services and could contribute to growing disorder and internal disputes amid the Israeli genocidal war and the widespread collapse of basic services in Gaza.
PCHR noted that the escalating attacks on police have coincided with an increase in family disputes in several areas of Gaza, requiring police intervention to contain and resolve them. Weakening the police’s ability to perform these duties, it said, further increases the risk of disorder and internal violence.
PCHR warns of consequences
PCHR stressed that police officers performing civilian duties related to maintaining security, public order and civilian affairs are protected under international humanitarian law as long as they do not directly participate in hostilities.
The center said targeting such personnel constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and stressed the need to distinguish between police officers performing civilian functions and individuals directly participating in hostilities, in accordance with the rules governing the protection of civilians.
PCHR renewed its call on the international community to take urgent and effective measures to halt violations and crimes against civilians, end attacks on civilian institutions and agencies responsible for maintaining internal security, ensure accountability for those responsible, and provide immediate international protection for Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
