The humanitarian situation seriously worsened in the Gaza Strip over the past two days, with the Israeli occupation forces’ (IOF) intense military attacks targeting vital civilian facilities and homes, and ordering further people to evacuate to city centers while bombarding these centers and UN shelters. An attack on a UN shelter in Gaza City with light bombs killed a woman inside a UN shelter last night. A clear trend of violating international law has persisted and continued to harm the civilian population. Continuous indiscriminate attacks and ordering densely populated areas seem to aim to spread panic and terrorize the population at large.   There is a full blackout since last night. An attack on the fuel tanks of the only power plant in the Gaza Strip brought it to a halt. Without the two to four hours of power supply which people had during the previous two weeks in some areas, it is impossible to maintain water supply, water purification, pumping sewage, or maintaining communications. Hospitals and other vital facilities are at serious risk, as their generators cannot provide safe, sustainable solution with zero power supply.   During the past two days Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights has monitoring increasing attacks on houses with their residents inside them, wiping our more families. Attacks around the Shifa hospital, west of Gaza City, where direct attacks on homes and civilian government structures occurred. Al Mezan deplores the continuous allegations by the IOF concerning using Palestinian civilians as human shields by Palestinian armed groups and the unspecified allegations that civilian objects, including houses and mosques, are being used to stock arms. While in a few cases civilian structures were used to stock arms, including in at least two schools and two houses, these structures were vacant. The IOF attacks on the two houses left no casualties. Al Mezan's monitoring indicates that none of the hundreds of houses or hospitals attacked by the IOF hosted weapons or were used for military purposes.   Due to the full blackout, intensity of the IOF attacks and the failure of the mobile phone network in some areas, Al Mezan's work was more challenging since yesterday. Even though our field workers continued to investigate and verify IOF attacks in the field, the power cuts and communication problems rendered it impossible to prepare detailed accounts of individual cases to include them in this press release, which will provide overall descriptions and figures of the implications of the IOF attacks in the Gaza Strip's five districts.   Al Mezan can confirm that, as of 12pm today, Tuesday 28 July 2014, at least 1,194 Palestinians have been killed by the IOF, including 282 children and 147 women. According to Al Mezan's initial investigations 944 (i.e. 79%) of the victims are civilian. Many others were people known to be affiliated with Palestinian factions, although they were not taking part in hostilities. At least 591 (49.5%; 194 children and 121 women) were killed inside their homes; and two women with disability were killed in an attack on a rehabilitation center for people with severe and complex impairments. Another 149 people were killed in the vicinity of their houses, including in situations where they were trying to flee from their homes as a result of IOF attacks. The casualties mentioned in this paragraph include the persons who have been verified as killed and identified by Al Mezan.   Moreover, at least 4,960 other people were injured during the same period; of whom at least 1,452 were children and 999 women. At least, 4,511 houses were destroyed or damaged during this period; of which 593 were destroyed completely as the IOF directly and deliberately attacked 653 of the total number of damaged houses. The numbers of casualties and houses are not final, but only those verified by Al Mezan thus far. Numerous other civilian structures were damaged or destroyed during the reporting period; however, due to the difficulties mentioned above, Al Mezan was unable to calculate them precisely.   At around 11:30 am today, Monday 28 July 2014, IOF artillery batteries resumed heavy shelling of various neighborhoods in the North Gaza district, including the Al Nada and Al Awda Towers (apartment building clusters), Ezbet Beit Hanoun in the town of Beit Hanoun; the Al Jurn, Al Seka, Ezbet Abed-Rabbo, Al Zawiyeh and Tel Al Za'tar in Jabalia; and the Al Manshiyeh, Sheikh Zaiyd town, and Qleebo areas in Beit Lahiya town. The shelling continued for about 12 continuous hours, ending around midday on Tuesday 29 July 2014. Al Mezan monitoring indicates that the shelling was continuous and particularly intense. Many artillery shells hit houses directly. As a result, eight people, including four children and two women, were killed in the district due to IOF attacks. Another 55 people were also injured, including 18 children and 16 women. The shelling caused severe damages to ten houses, significant damages to about 50 other houses, and damaged seven other civilian structures, including five mosques, one NGO office and a kindergarten.   Al Mezan also reports that the Palestinian human rights defender, Mohammed Ghannam, from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, survived an IOF attack on a car near him as he was in a taxi in Jabalia town. Ghannam was returning from a field trip to monitor IOF violations in the North Gaza district.   On Monday 28 July 2014, which marked the first day of the Eid Al Fitr, Israeli aircraft bombarded four houses in Gaza City. Three of houses were destroyed completely. In one of the houses, a man was killed, and in another house an old woman was killed. One of these houses is owned by former Prime Minister of the Gaza government, Ismail Haniyeh. The house, which is located west of the Beach (Shati) refugee camp, was destroyed completely in the IOF attack. Several other structures were also bombarded in Gaza City during the Eid Al Fitr day, including the yard of the outpatient department at SHifa hospital, the Ministry of Finance building, the Al Ameen Mosque and three offices of the Al Aqsa Space Channel. IOF also bombarded two apartments for the same channel, which are located in the Al Shorouq apartment building in central Gaza City. Moreover, a woman was killed from inhaling Gaza from light bombs fired by the IOF on the vicinity of a UN IDPs shelter in Tel AL Hawa neighborhood in the southwest of Gaza City. An infant was also killed as she fell from her cradle as a result of the impact of IOF bombardment of the Al Mashtal security site in the West of Gaza City near the infant's house. Also last night, IOF artillery shells hit 15 houses in the vicinity of Al Mezan's office, which is close to the Al Amal Hotel in the west of Gaza City, causing severe damages to these houses. In Gaza City alone, 19 houses were targeted by IOF aircraft and artillery since the evening hours of Monday 28 July 2014. The IOF attacks during the same period killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza City. Another nine people died from wounds they had sustained earlier; seven of whom were recovered from under the rubble of their house, raising the toll in Gaza City to 24. Of the 24, 12 were children and three were women.   Ten of the victims were children and one was an old man who were killed when a missile exploded at around 4:45 pm on Monday 28 July 2014 in the Fathi Al Shuqiri Street in the Shamali area north of the Beach (Shati) refugee camp northwest of Gaza City. The missile exploded near a park where children were playing on wings on the Eid day. Another 22 people; mostly children, were also injured from this explosion; two critically.   In the town of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, the IOF escalated its attacks on houses during the same period. The IOF bombarded three houses as their residents were inside them, and without giving prior warning. IFO drones also fired missiles at several houses. These attacks destroyed 11 houses; 8 of which were completely destroyed and 3 were severely damaged. These attacks, with other separate attacks, killed 23 people in Rafah; all of whom were civilians and among whom were 7 children, 8 women and a journalist. Another 52 people were injured, including 26 children and 4 women. Dozens of houses were damaged due to IOF attacks. One wood store and two mosques were also destroyed.   In the Middle Gaza district, and during the same period, the IOF intensified the bombardment from naval warships, artillery and aircraft. Many attacks hit houses directly, including the house of the mayor of Al Bureij; Anees Abu Shamaleh, who was killed with his father and nephew in the attack. The rest of his family members were injured. The IOF attacks on this district were the bloodiest in the Gaza Strip, claiming the lives of 43 people, including 18 children and six women. IOF attacks were also directed t civilian structures in the district. At approximately 9:30 pm on Monday 28 July 2014, bombarded the Gaza power plant—the only in the Gaza Strip—several times. The boilers of the plant were hit. Later, around 6 am on Tuesday 29 July 2014, the IOF bombarded the plant again, this time hitting its fuel tanks and igniting a huge fire in them. The power plant shut down completely and there has been a full blackout in the Gaza Strip since then.   The district of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, IOF also launched many attacks, focusing on houses. Naval warships, aircraft and artillery batteries bombarded several areas in the districts. Eight houses took direct IOF hits, killing families and other civilians; including the families of Al Riqib, Al Najjar and Al Agha. IOF attacks were bloodiest in Khan Younis district during the reporting period; starting in the evening of Monday 28 July 2014, as they claimed the lives of 49 people; including 16 children and 8 women. Al Mezan was able to verify that 73 people were injured; including 17 children and 9 women. The long blackouts in this district disrupted the water supply and the mobile network, which stopped for over 10 hours. Moreover, one of the IOF attacks was directed at a crew from the Bani Suheila town's municipality as they were switching water valves to secure water for the population; killing 42-year-old municipality staff Issam Ibrahin Abu Shab.   Al Mezan strongly condemns IOF's serious violations of international law; including the extensive, indiscriminate, armed attacks on civilian targets which were intensified during the reporting period. Al Mezan expresses outrage by the direct attacks on houses with families inside their homes and the firing on fleeing civilians. Al Mezan strongly condemns the attacks civilian objects including the Gaza power plants, IDP shelters, hospitals, and houses. The attacks on the power plant represent an example of the seriousness of Israel's noncompliance with IHL, which has had a dangerous impact on the civilian population and caused rapid deterioration of the humanitarian conditions.   Al Mezan expresses serious concern by the continued failure of international community to provide the due protection for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, and its failure to clearly condemn IOF's flagrant violations of international law. This failure has encouraged serious violations of international law, which is reflected in human lives, to continue.   Al Mezan therefore calls on the international community to: Condemn with the strongest terms Israel's grave breaches of IHL in the context of Operation Protective Edge; Take immediate, effective action to provide due protection for civilians in the Gaza Strip from military attacks and persecution; Express unequivocal support and play a positive role in ensuring that credible, independent investigations into the suspected violations of human rights and IHL in the context of the operation Protective Edge are carried out in order to ensure accountability for those who committed them and redress for their victims; and Press for an immediate end of Israel's unlawful closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip. END