Israel escalates mass killings in Gaza amid impunity and declining media coverage
A Palestinian embraces the body of his 5-year-old nephew in Gaza City, June 2025
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports on 20 June 2025:
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warns of a sharp increase in Israel’s genocide against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly through intensified mass killings. This escalation comes amid a near-total absence of international accountability or deterrence, and as global media attention wanes due to developments surrounding the ongoing confrontation between Israel and Iran.
In just the past four days, Euro-Med Monitor has documented the killing of over 350 Palestinians and the injury of hundreds more, in the context of a wide-scale Israeli assault targeting densely populated areas of forcibly displaced civilians, what remains of homes, and the few remaining humanitarian aid distribution points.
Over 70 Palestinians have been killed since early this morning (Friday 20 June), nearly half of them while waiting for or attempting to obtain food aid—a pattern that underscores Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of its genocide.
While this genocidal machinery grinds on, the international community remains paralysed, sealing the circle of justice for the entire world just as the circle of death has been sealed around the people of Gaza
Lima Bustami, Director of Euro-Med Monitor’s Legal Department.
Field documentation confirms continued systematic attacks on civilians. Eleven members of the Ayash family were killed today when the Israeli military bombed their home, in the west of Deir al-Balah, while three other individuals—including a child—were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City’s northeast Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, in the north of the Strip. Another Israeli airstrike on a food supply point in central Gaza City killed seven more civilians, including two children.
“Life in Gaza is now locked inside a vicious, inescapable circle of death. It begins with the deliberate shelling of civilian areas—wherever people are present: many are killed outright; the wounded and the sick are left to die as the health-care system collapses; and the missing remain trapped beneath the rubble,” said Lima Bustami, Director of Euro-Med Monitor’s Legal Department.
“Survivors are then displaced into tents devoid of even the barest means of survival; the siege tightens the circle through deliberate starvation, and those who attempt to reach relief points are cut down by gunfire or shelling. This calculated and horrific progression—starvation, the systematic denial of life-sustaining essentials, and direct killing on every front—demonstrates Israel’s intent to destroy Gaza’s Palestinian population, in whole or in part, thereby satisfying every element of the crime of genocide.”
Bustami added: “While this genocidal machinery grinds on, the international community remains paralysed, sealing the circle of justice for the entire world just as the circle of death has been sealed around the people of Gaza. All states must act now: halt the crime, prosecute those responsible, and salvage what remains of the international order’s credibility.”
Figures from Gaza’s Ministry of Health show a dramatic rise in casualties: 69 deaths and 221 injuries were recorded yesterday, with 144 killed and 560 wounded on Wednesday, and at least 61 killed on Tuesday. This reflects a terrifying acceleration in mass killing operations focused on residential areas and protected civilian infrastructure, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
The escalation unfolds alongside Israel’s daily policy of forced displacement, now in its 36th consecutive day. Over 300,000 Palestinian civilians are being pushed westward in the Gaza Strip, under relentless Israeli bombardment. Simultaneously, Israel maintains near-total fire control over the northern part of the besieged enclave, including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, Jabalia, and adjacent areas, further tightening the siege and isolating entire populations.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 680,000 Palestinians have been displaced since Israel broke the ceasefire agreement and resumed its military assault on 18 March. Less than 18% of the Strip remains outside direct Israeli military control or forced “evacuation” zones. With no safe shelter, civilians are crammed into overcrowded displacement sites, temporary shelters, damaged buildings, or even forced to sleep on the street—a stark reflection of Gaza’s humanitarian collapse.
Israeli attacks have killed over 5,400 Palestinians since the resumption of hostilities on 18 March, most of them civilians, including large numbers of women and children. Aid distribution points, theoretically meant to be safe zones, have become deadly traps. Israeli forces systematically target crowds of civilians gathered around these points, especially as hunger worsens, and kill those who are simply trying to survive.
Euro-Med Monitor has documented the killing of over 120 Palestinians since Monday alone, all of whom were either approaching or waiting at aid centres when targeted by Israeli forces. About 20 similar incidents have been recorded in the past month, reflecting a clear pattern of the Israeli targeting of hungry civilians.
The Israeli army continues to deny responsibility, resorting to vague claims about “suspects” without any evidence. Ground investigations conducted by Euro-Med Monitor confirm that the victims have been unarmed civilians, including many children, women, and elderly individuals.
These mass killings are taking place following Israel’s deliberate reduction in aid distribution points from more than 400 UN-supervised stations to just four, now operating under a quasi-military system by the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and guarded by Israeli forces and private security companies. This has deprived hundreds of thousands of civilians of safe access to food and medicine, turning aid centres into scenes of mass killing, and consequently making it so that many people are now terrified to approach such sites.
Since Israel began imposing its “aid distribution” mechanism on the Gaza Strip’s population, Euro-Med Monitor has documented the involvement of the Israeli military, local armed gangs cooperating with it, and personnel from the US security firm overseeing the aid centres, in the killings of Palestinian civilians at or near these locations. Notably, the victims have been targeted despite presenting no actual threat to anyone. Under international law, lethal force is only permissible as a last resort in the face of an imminent threat to life—a condition clearly unmet in these incidents.
Israel has also imposed a near-complete blockade on humanitarian aid since March, allowing only symbolic quantities of select items to enter the enclave via UN agencies. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), all of the roughly 2.1 million people in Gaza now face acute food insecurity, while access to clean water has collapsed to catastrophic levels. Since May, cases of malnutrition among children under five have risen by nearly 150%, with severe cases doubling.
All states and institutions must exert maximum pressure on Israel to immediately halt the killing of starving civilians and dismantle its inhumane “aid distribution” mechanism. The international community must compel Israel to end its illegal blockade and restore full humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip at once; this is the only way to prevent famine and ensure the prompt entry of food, medicine, and fuel. Euro-Med Monitor also calls for the establishment of UN-supervised humanitarian corridors and the deployment of independent international observers.
All countries must fulfill their legal obligations and act urgently to stop the ongoing genocide in the Strip. This includes taking concrete measures to protect Palestinian civilians; ensuring Israel’s compliance with international law and International Court of Justice rulings, and holding it accountable for its crimes; and the swift execution of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defence Minister.
In addition, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor calls for immediate diplomatic, military, and economic sanctions against Israel and its more powerful allies, particularly the United States, for such grave and systematic violations of international law. These sanctions should include total arms embargoes; halting all forms of military and security cooperation; freezing the assets of political and military figures involved in the genocide; imposing travel bans; and suspending the operations of US and Israeli military-industrial companies in global markets; plus suspending bilateral agreements that grant Israel and the US trade and economic privileges that enable them to continue committing genocide against the Palestinian people.
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