At approximately 11:05 p.m., on Tuesday, 2 May 2023, Israel launched large-scale aerial and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip, targeting various areas, killing one Palestinian, and causing significant damage to residential houses, civilian structures, and private property.

Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip on 2-3 May 2023:

Al Mezan’s documentation shows that between 11:05 p.m. on Tuesday night, 2 May 2023, and 3:47 a.m., on Wednesday dawn, 3 May 2023, Israeli warplanes carried out a dozen airstrikes at several places in the North Gaza District, repeatedly targeting four military sites belonging to Palestinian resistance factions. Besides the aerial attacks, Israeli artillery targeted Palestinian observation posts near the separation fence in the North Gaza District. Six Israeli airstrikes hit the Al-Safina building in northern Gaza, killing Hashel Mubarak, 58, after a block of his roof collapsed on him because of the bombing. The attacks also caused property damage at That Al-Sawari School for Girls and nearby houses.

In Gaza City, Israeli warplanes launched 14 airstrikes and artillery shells at three Palestinian resistance military sites and two observation posts near the separation fence. The attacks caused property damage in some houses and facilities, including the General Directorate of Extension and Planning building of the Ministry of Agriculture, and spread panic and terror among Palestinian civilians, with no injuries reported.

In Deir Al-Balah City, at approximately 2:55 a.m., on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a Palestinian resistance military site in Al-Rashid Street, west of Deir Al-Balah City, in the Middle Area District, causing significant property damage in the site and its surroundings, with no injuries reported.

In Khan Younis, between 11:25 p.m. on Tuesday and 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, Israeli artillery fired shells at an observation post near the separation fence, while warplanes fired tens of missiles hitting three Palestinian military sites and one farmland. There were no reported injuries in the attacks.

In Rafah, at approximately 1:57 a.m., on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, Israeli warplanes launched three missiles at a Palestinian resistance military site in eastern Rafah City, which was hit with a drone missile a few minutes earlier. On the same day, around 2:33 a.m., Israeli warplanes fired at least one missile at an open area northeast of Al-Shouka village, east of Rafah. At around 3:47 a.m., Israeli artillery targeted an observation post near al-Awda camp, southeast Al-Shouka village. There were no reported injuries in the attacks.

Al Mezan expresses its strongest condemnation of Israel's military attacks on the Gaza Strip. The repeated use of highly explosive missiles in highly densely populated areas s further evidence of Israel’s disregard for its obligations under international law and its intention to continue committing gross and systematic violations which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including apartheid.

Accordingly, Al Mezan urges the international community to take swift and effective action to end to Israel’s gross and systematic violations against the Palestinian people—including the lifting of the illegal closure and blockade of Gaza—and to activate existing accountability mechanisms to hold those responsible to account. The inaction and failure of the international community to fulfill its obligations to pursue and hold perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity accountable encourage Israel to continue its crimes against Palestinians— whether through the uninterrupted imposition of a closure and blockade that has lasted 16 years, or through the launching of military attacks whose targets are mostly civilians.

Lastly, Al Mezan call on the UN Commission of Inquiry to thoroughly investigate events that occurred between 2 and 3 May 2023—in particular the willful killing of Khadr Adnan and the military attacks on the Gaza Strip. Al Mezan also urges the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to take immediate and concrete steps in the investigation officially launched in March 2021 into crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory without further delay.