The IOF have continued their aggressive offensive on the Gaza Strip, targeting Palestinian civilians, houses, civil establishments, public facilities, and governmental institutions.
The IOF have destroyed the buildings of the Palestinian Ministries of National Economy, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Planning, and the Office of the Prime Minister.
The total number of deaths since this latest IOF incursion has reached 98, and the number of injured 300.
In addition, tens of houses have been destroyed and dunums of agricultural lands have been razed.
According to the Center’s field investigations, on July 15th at approximately 11:30pm, more IOF troops were deployed in Beit Hanoun town, and penetrated eastern areas of the town.
At approximately 12:00pm, 20 military vehicles penetrated 500 meters into the Farata area in eastern Beit Hanoun.
18 military vehicles moved forward the Shorrab agricultural land and stationed there.
On July 16th, at approximately 1:00am the IOF vehicles stationed in the Shorrab’s land, moved forward to the area north of the Faculty of Agriculture in northern Beit Hanoun.
They deployed in Al Masriyeen, and Al Boura Streets, Beit Hanoun clinic, and the areas surrounding the Faculty of Agriculture and the Hayel Abd Al Hamid Secondary School.
Further, they occupied both the Faculty of Agriculture and the Ghassan Kanafani Institution for Development, as well as the homes of Salah Shabat, Hani Al Kafarna, Rafiq Al Kafarna, and Mansour Al Kafarna, using them as military surveillance points.
They then began firing randomly at civilians in the area.
At the same day, at approximately 4:00am, an Israeli jet fired a rocket close to the Faculty of Agriculture, injuring 4 Palestinians including one child.
The same jet fired another rocket on the area as ambulances rushed to the scene to help the wounded, creating trenches in the area which prevented medical personnel from reaching the wounded.
At approximately 4:20am, an Israeli jet fired a rocket which landed on an open area and destroyed the main cables of the electricity network which has caused total suspension of electricity throughout most of the northern parts of the Gaza Strip.
At approximately 5:30am an Israeli jet fired a rocket at a group of people gathering in the centre of Beit Hanoun, killing Mo’az Hamza Odwan, 23, Abd Al Karim Yousif Hamad, 25, and Shehada Zohein Al Kafarna, 24, and injuring 4 others.
Further, the IOF continued firing randomly from machine guns towards civilian houses, injuring 8 Palestinians.
On the same day at approximately 8:30am, the IOF fired a tank missile which landed close to the house of Eid Fadel Jadallah, located northeast of Gaza International Airport in Rafah.
Fatma Fadel Jadallah, 59, was killed as a result.
Earlier on July 15th, at approximately 10:05am, an Israeli jet fired a rocket at a two- story home located in Bour Said Street, destroying it totally and killing Omar Mahmoud Younis, 30, and injuring 8 others, one of whom was 7-month old Talal Morad, who sustained serious injuries.
Moreover, the IOF continued firing tank missiles along the borderline in the north and east of the Gaza Strip, targeting Palestinian civilians and property.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns these ongoing IOF violations against civilians in the OPT, and the Gaza Strip in particular; it confirms that crimes such as targeting of civilians and properties constitute serious violations of international law, most notably the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and the Hague Regulations.
Further, Al Mezan considers the IOF crimes against civilians and properties a clear disregard of obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
Al Mezan affirms that the silence of the international community encourages Israel to commit further crimes by the IOF.
Thus, Al Mezan Center calls upon the international community, most notably the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, to immediately intervene to halt IOF war crimes against Palestinians in the OPT, and bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
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