2PM Gaza Time Since the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) claimed a soldier was captured by Palestinian fighters on Friday 1 August 2014, IOF attacks have been continuous on the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
International hasty condemnation of the alleged capture of the soldier and overlooking the serious violations committed by the IOF in relation to it has created an atmosphere that has allowed for IOF violations to continue until today.
Al Mezan warns about the lack of urgent international intervention in the situation in Rafah, where dozens of civilians have been killed, access to hospital rendered impossible due to continuous IOF fire, lack of water and food, and the organized attacks on main crossroads and streets leading to the town.
The power, water and telephone networks have also been disrupted by the IOF.
Last night the IOF declared a humanitarian truce for seven hours, starting at 10 am today.
seven hours into the truce, the IOF bombarded the house of Al Bakri family in the dense Shati (Beach) refugee camp, killing and injuring tens of people.
The attack occurred when the area of the house was calm and no attacks had emanated from there.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian conditions in the entire Gaza Strip continued to rapidly deteriorate, with about half a million internally displaced persons sheltered in UN shelters, government schools or with families or relatives and friends.
Hospitals and healthcare facilities are under greater pressure, as dozens of them have become out of service and because of the continuous power cuts.
Food preservation is almost impossible and access to water and sanitation services is at almost full halt.
As of 2 pm today, Monday 4 August 2014, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights was able to verify that at least 1,828 Palestinians have been killed by the IOF.
Of them 413 are children and 229 women.
These figures are expected to rise as more dead bodies are recovered and identified; especially in Rafah, eastern Khan Younis and other Gaza areas.
According to Al Mezan's initial investigations 1,495 (i.
e.
81.
8%) of the victims are civilians.
At least 877; including 284 children and 189 women, were killed inside their houses; and two other disabled women were killed in an attack on a rehabilitation NGO's office.
Another 183 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.
Moreover, at least 7,198 other people were injured during the same period; of whom at least 1,984 were children and 1,350 women.
At least, 6,577 houses were destroyed or damaged during this period; of which 1,162 were destroyed completely as the IOF directly and deliberately attacked 855 of the total number of damaged houses.
As of today, IOF attacks have destroyed or damaged 79 schools, 123 mosques, 8 hospitals; 6 of which are out of service, 36 NGO offices, 50 fishing boats, and 137 vehicles.
North Gaza district: Al Mezan was able to confirm that IOF tanks backed out from northern Beit Lahiya and eastern Jabalia areas, starting at 3 pm on Saturday 2 July 2014.
IOF forces re-deployed armor along the separation fence on the border for the first time since IOF initiated the ground invasion on 18 July 2014.
Israeli Arabic radio announced that it was safe for people in these areas to return to their homes, prompting significant numbers of families to return.
However, IOF artillery shelling of these same areas resumed until today.
Al Mezan can confirm that at least 12 houses in these areas were hit by IOF fire by 12 pm today, injuring 15 people from those who returned to their houses.
Starting at 4 pm today, 4 August 2014, IOF employed artillery shelling in several parts of the North Gaza district; especially in the east of Tel Al Za'tar, Al Kashif and Ezbet Abed-Rabbo in the east of Jabalia, and the northern and eastern parts of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun towns.
The latter parts are included in the IOF's declaration of them as areas safe for people to return to.
At least nine people; including two children and two women, were injured from the shelling.
Medical sources at the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city announced yesterday evening that a women 29-year-old Wadee'a Mohammed Al Zain, and a young man, 18-year-old Ezat Khamis Jneed, died from wounds they had sustained from IOF artillery shelling of Jabalia on 29 July 2014.
A third girl, 2-year-old Nour Bahjat Wahdan, also succumbed to wounds she had sustained when the IFO bombarded the house to which her family had fled in Jabalia refugee camp on 3 August 2014.
A fourth young man, Faris Ahmed Dawoud, 21, also succumbed to wounds he had sustained from IOF fire as he was trying to aid his neighbors in Beit Lahiya, whose house was attacked.
At approximately 3:30 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired at least one missile at the house of Abdel Hadi Mahmoud Al Majdalawi, which is located in the west of Jabalia.
As a result, five persons from the family were killed; including three children, and another seven were injured; including two children and two women.
The persons who were killed were identified as: Mahmoud Abdel Hadi Al Majdalawi, 24; (the house owner's son) Abdel Raziq Abdel Hadi Al Majdalawi, 19; (the house owner's son) Abdallah Abdel Hadi Al Majdalawi, 13; (the house owner's son) Rawan Ahmed Al Majdalawi, 9; (the house owner's granddaughter); and Mahmoud Ahmed Al Majdalawi, 8; (the house owner's grandson).
Their house was bombarded when the family were inside it.
No warning was given to them prior to the attack.
At approximately 2:30 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired at least one missile at a group of men who were on the Mas'oud Street in Jabalia, killing Saeb Al Batsh, 22 on the spot.
Another man, Issam Ibrahin Jneed, 23, was critically injured in the attack, and died from his wound a few hours later.
At approximately 7:40 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired at least one missile at a group of men who were near the AL Khuzundar Petroleum Station in the Amer neighborhood in Jabalia, killing Mohammed Sa'di Ahmed, 34; and Qasim Mahmoud Qasim, 38.
At approximately 8:50 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired at least one missile at the house of Mohammed Abdel Karim Abu Nijm, which is located in Block 8 in Jabalia refugee camp, near the Al Tawba mosque.
The two-story house was destroyed over the its residents, killing ten persons, including three children and a women.
They were identified as: Mohammed Abdel Karim Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 55; and his three sons Bilal Mohammed Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 27; Mohammed Mohammed Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 21; Ahmed Mohammed Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 17; Abdel Karim Mohammed Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 97; (the house owner's father) Soha Hamed Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 30; Raghad Mohammed Abu Nijm-Al Masri, 3; (Soha's daughter) Shaimaa' Wael Qasim, 14; (Raghad's cousin) Danian Kamel Mansour, 41; Abdel Nasser Al 'Ajouri, 26.
Another 22 people were injured in this attack, including ten children and three women.
About ten houses were also damaged.
Al Mezan's initial investigation into this attack indicates that the IOF attacked the house when its residents were inside it without giving any prior warning.
The attack used a heavy missile on the house which is located in a very dense refugee camp, which raised the number of casualties and injuries.
Al Mezan also knew that the family hosts relatives, who had fled their home hours before the attack following an IOF drone attack the mosque near their house.
Other visitors were also in the house and it is rumored that they might have been the target of the attack.
At approximately 3:45 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired at least one missile at motorcycle that was driving in the neighborhood of Tel Al Za'tar in Jabalia, killing the cyclist, Ez-Eddin Ghazi Abu T'eema, 19.
Moments after the attack, and as people approached the attacked person, a second missile was fired by IOF, injuring a man, 33-year-old Shareef Abu Zaydeh, and a child, 16-year-old Khalid Raed Al SHrafi, 16.
At approximately 10:45 am on Monday 4 August 2014, Palestinian rescue teams were able to recover two dead bodies for two men who had been killed in IOF attacks in the As-Syafa area, north to Beit Lahiya.
They were not yet identified when this press release was published.
Gaza City: On Monday afternoon medical sources in the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City announced the death of 60-year-old Mohammed Saleh Shamali, who had been killed since 20 July 2014.
His body was recovered from the rubble of his house in the Al Shejai'ya neighborhood in Gaza City.
At approximately 5 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired four missiles at the house of Ahmed Marzouq Al Ghifari, 46, which is located in Al Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City.
The house was totally destroyed in the attack.
At almost the same time, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a car maintenance workshop, owned by Raed Al Ghifari, 42, in the same area and destroyed it completely.
At approximately 5 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired at a group of people who were near the bridge in the same Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, killing Qasim Ahmed Qasim, 26.
At approximately 12:05 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a group of people who were near the Al Sahaba medical Compound in the Al Daraj neighborhood in central Gaza City, killing 22-year-old Mohammed Sabri Atallah.
At approximately 12:45 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a group of people who were near the Al Tawheed mosque in the AL Zarqaa' neighborhood in the north of Gaza City.
As a result, four men were killed: Ahmed Khalid Mqatt, 25; Hamada Khalid Mqatt, 29; (Ahmed's brother) Zaher Mohammed Al Anqah, 24; and Suleiman Mohammed Ma'rouf, 24.
At approximately 1 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a group of people in the Al Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, killing two men: Diyaa' Mohammed Al Madhoun, 23; and Ahmed Khader Banat, 22.
At approximately 3 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a group of people in the Al Nasser neighborhood in western Gaza City, killing 23-year-old Yousif Mo'ammar Al Moghrabi.
At approximately 10:07 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a the house of Ahmed Kamal Al Bakri, 38, which is located near the central market in the center of the Shati (Beach) refugee camp; a veru dense area.
The three-story house, which is home to 30 persons including 17 children, was bombarded only seven minutes into the IOF unilaterally declared truce.
No prior warning was given to the family or the neighbors.
As a result, the house was totally destroyed, a girl, Aseel Mohammed Al Bakri, 4, was killed and about 35 people were injured; 14 of whom were children and 8 women.
Two adjacent houses were severely damaged from the attack.
The search for more dead people under the rubble was still ongoing when this press release was published.
People have had to use their hands in removing the rubble, as rubble removal equipment cannot reach the house through the very narrow alleys in the refugee camp.
Middle Gaza district: In this district, Palestinian rescue teams were able to recover the bodies of a woman and a girl who had been killed in an IOF airstrike on their houses earlier on Sunday 3 July 2014; an attack in which six others from the family were killed.
They were identified as: Dalia Atwa Khattab, 13; and Safaa' Atwa Khattab, 23.
At approximately 5:30 am on Sunday 3 July 2014, an IOF drone fired a missile at a group of people who were west of the Al Nuseirat refugee camp, killing two men; Abdallah Suheil Al Talla', 24, and Basil Waleed Al Talla', 24.
At approximately 3:40 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired two missiles at the house of Sobeh Hamouda Al Hour, 57, which is located in the Al Nuseirat refugee camp.
IOF drones had fired two missiles at the house; after which it was evacuated.
The house was totally destroyed and its 21 residents were displaced.
Khan Younis district: At approximately 10 am on Sunday 3 August 2014, Palestinian rescue teams medical sources announced the death of an old women, 77-year-old Zeinab Ahmed Abu Teer, who succumbed to wounds she had sustained in an IOF attack on her house a few days earlier.
On Sunday 3 August 2014, Palestinian rescue teams were able to recover ten dead bodies from under the rubble of houses; including one woman, in the towns of Khuza'a and Abassan Al Kabeera in the east of Khan Younis district.
It was difficult to verify their ages and it is believed that no children were among them.
They were identified as: Ghalia Abu Reedeh; Shadi Abu 'Amer; Maher Abu Draz; Issam Abu Salah; Mohammed Fseefis; Rami Abu Daqqa; Rashad al Najjar; Bilal Al Najjar; Ibrahim Breeka; and Alaa' Abu Rjeela.
At approximately 1 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a group of people in the west of Khan Younis City.
One man were killed in the attack: Salah-Adin Maher Abu Sabha, 24, and another man was injured.
Medical teams were able to reach them hours after the attack.
At approximately 2 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft bombarded the house of Emad Mohammed Al 'Edini, which is located in the Al Mahata area in central Khan Younis City.
The three-story house was home to 18 persons.
About fifteen minutes later, IOF aircraft fired a heavy missile at the house, totally destroying it and damaging several neighboring houses.
About two hours and a half later, IOF bombarded the house of Samir Abu Khater in Bani Suheila town eastern Khan Younis, destroying it and displacing its 30 residents.
Seven neighboring houses were damaged in this attack.
At approximately 11 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft bombarded the house of Fathi Hasan Al Ghalban in Khan Younis City.
The three-story house, which was home to 22 persons, was damaged.
A few minutes later, IOF fired a heavy missile on the house and destroyed it completely.
A man, 22-year-old Tayseer Yousef Al Jirjawi, 22, was killed in this attack.
At approximately 6:30 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft bombarded the office of the Al Moltazim Insurance Company in central Khan Younis City and destroyed it.
At approximately 8:30 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile into a group of people in the Al Qarara town, east to Khan Younis.
As a result, two men were killed: Ahmed Abdel Hakim Al Astal, 26, and Mahmoud Zaki Al Lahham, 25.
Rafah district: Al Mezan was able to verify that the number of casualties resulted from the IOF attack on the UNRWA school, turned IDPs shelter, in Rafah yesterday increased to 11 victims after four of the wounded; including three children, succumbed to their wounds in the evening yesterday.
In addition to the list published in Al Mezan's press release dated 3 August 2014 in this incident, the following persons were also killed in the same attack: Aya Mohammed Abu Rijil, 3; Saqr Bassam Al Kashif, 7; Tareq Ziyad Abu Khatleh, 15; and Mohammed Omar Awaja, 30, who is a second volunteer at the shelter.
At approximately 12:40 am on Sunday 3 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile a car in Rafah, killing a man and his child.
Ambulances were able to reach them five hours after the attack due to IOF's attacks in Rafah.
They were identified as: Khalil Mohammed Abu Dbaa', 40; and his son Muneer Khalil Abu Dbaa', 14.
At approximately 1 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile, which exploded neat the Al Zahraa' clinic in Al Jneena neighborhood, east of Rafah, killing 17-year-ols Tha'er Majdi Abu Jazar.
At approximately 1:30 am on Monday 4 August 2014, IOF aircraft fired a missile at a crossroads in the Al Salam neighborhood, southeast of Rafah.
Shrapnel from the missile hit a nearby house, killing a girl, Raghad Omar Abu S'oud, 3, her grandmother, her three sisters: 'Hala, 8 days, Malak, 5, and Farah, 8, and two others.
The children are from Deir Al Balah town and were hosted by their relatives.
At approximately 7:25 am on Monday 4 August 2014, an IOF drone fired a missile at a group of people who were in the Al Nuzha Street in Tel As Sultan neighborhood, western Rafah.
A man, 28-year-old Ashraf Mahmoud Abu Mish'al, was killed, and another man who lives nearby was moderately injured.
At approximately 8 am on Monday 4 August 2014, an IOF drone fired a missile at a motorcycle near the Iskan apartment buildings in the Tel As Sultan neighborhood.
54-year-old Za'al Riziq Misleh, who is a worker in the water utility and had just finished his work on a nearby water-well, was on the motorcycle.
He sustained critical injuries in the attack.
At approximately 5 pm on Sunday 3 August 2014, an IOF drone fired a missile into a group of people who were near the Al Jawazat crossroads in the Al Salam neighborhood in Rafah.
One man, Nour Khalil Al 'Okor, 22, was killed and another three were injured in this attack.
Al Mezan strongly condemns the IOF's continued violations of the rules of international law (IHL).
Attacks on civilians and/or civilian objects constitute war crimes under international law.
In hundreds of incidents, the IOF has shown flagrant disregard to IHL rules the prohibit directing attacks at civilians and civilian objects, and a chronic failure to make the obligatory effort to spare civilians; especially with wanton, targeted attacks on inhabited homes, hospitals, UN shelters and ambulances.
IOF directed dozens of its attacks to facilities and resources that are indispensible for the life of the civilian population and humanitarian workers, such as ambulance crews and personnel dealing with water and sanitation facilities.
These attacks are not an exception or accidental, but represent a continuous pattern and make up the bulk of its attacks.
The indiscriminate shelling and bombardment of civilians; most of who returning IDPs in Rafah and other areas cannot be justified, as these people were visibly civilians and who were subject to intense shelling when they were trying to flee from IOF fire.
Al Mezan condemns 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 the due protection of 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 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