Israel destroys all basic conditions for life in northern Gaza, targets residents, new displacement
Palestinians walk among the rubble of buildings destroyed during Israel’s military offensive, Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, 12 June 2024
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports on 20 July 2024:
The Israeli army is escalating its targeting of all aspects and basic elements of life in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates, in an attempt to render them uninhabitable and force their citizens to evacuate to the southern governorates.
In the tenth month of its continuing crime of genocide, the Israeli army is intensifying its attacks with mass killings, starvation, deprivation of medical care, intimidation, arbitrary arrests, torture, and forced evacuations.
Israeli airstrikes against the Gaza Strip have expanded to target ever more basic aspects of daily life. These include direct targeting of vendors at their stands, Internet distribution centres, and areas where people gather, including where women fill water containers or prepare food, in addition to the ongoing targeting of homes and shelter centres.
Blocking any attempt to restore even the barest necessities of life in Gaza City and North Gaza governorates, the Israeli army appears to aim to force residents to comply with the orders it continues to issue to evacuate all inhabitants of the two governorates.
On Saturday, 20 July, at around 9 a.m., the Israeli army opened fire on several women who were cooking and filling water containers in their home. Noura Al-Sabbagh, 28, was killed, and several others were injured during the attack, one of whom was in critical condition. The incident occurred in the hallway of a home in the Zarqa neighbourhood of northern Gaza.
Saif Ali Al-Sabbagh told the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor team: “We suddenly heard the sound of a missile fired by an Israeli drone, targeting the women who were in the house’s corridor working on preparing food without prior notice. Noura Al-Sabbagh was standing close to the stove when the missile’s fragments instantly killed her. The rest of the women were brought to Al-Baptadi Hospital with injuries described by the medical teams as moderate and serious. One of the women suffered a serious injury. This totally unnecessary bombing caught us off guard. The area quickly filled with blood and shrapnel, with women being specifically targeted.”
On Tuesday, 2 July, ten Palestinians were killed by Israeli artillery shells, including a child and a disabled person, as they gathered to fill water containers in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City.
Thirty-four-year-old Muhammad Khaled Al-Malahidescribed to the Euro-Med Monitor team what happened, saying: “At 11.30 a.m., as I was leaving the house, I saw an artillery shell (fired by Israeli tanks) falling on people, children, and young people, who were lining up to fill and transport water to their homes next to the Al-Shamaa Mosque, which was destroyed by the Israeli army at the onset of the war. After the shell fell, people fell to the ground and left the water gallons empty, and we began transporting the victims on animal-drawn carts to the Baptist Hospital.”