What is the human cost of Israel's relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza?
London: In relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza, the Israeli army has killed dozens of Palestinian civilians and injured hundreds of others, including children, despite designating many of its operational areas as “safe areas”.
Palestinian health officials said Monday that 16 civilians were killed by Israeli shelling east of Khan Yunis, even as Israel issued new evacuation orders to keep civilian populations away from war zones.
According to Gaza's health ministry, the latest bloodshed follows an Israeli airstrike on July 13 on al-Mawasi camp, another designated safe zone in southern Gaza, which killed at least 90 Palestinians and injured 300, according to Gaza's health ministry. Others were injured.
Israel said the attack targeted Mohammad Deif, the head of Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Rafa Salameh, the commander of the group's Khan Yunis Brigade, who Israel believes was the mastermind of October 7. 2023, attack led by Hamas.
Denying reports that he had been killed, a Hamas official told AFP that Daif was closely monitoring operations, but he offered no evidence for the claim.
Meanwhile, Daniel Hagari, the spokesman of the Israeli army, said: “There are increasing signs that we have succeeded in removing Mohammad Deif.”
Amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, smoke rises from Gaza. (Reuters)
On Friday, he said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel: “Rafa Salameh was definitely removed.” Mohammad Deif and Salameh were sitting together during the strike. Hamas is hiding what happened to Def.
Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halavi has also accused Hamas of “concealing” the “results” of the attack on the western Khan Yunis complex where Deif and Salameh were allegedly hiding.
Regardless of whether or not the attack on al-Mawasi was successful, the attack on an area full of civilians was met with global condemnation, with observers accusing the Israeli military of violating international humanitarian law.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fonteles wrote on the social media platform X: “Wars have limits set out in international law. The end cannot justify all the means. We condemn the violation.”
He added: Once again, we demand access to independent investigations and accountability and an end to the terrible situation of innocent civilians in Gaza.
On the day of the attack, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hangbi “to express our grave concern about the recent civilian casualties in Gaza”.
Women react after Israeli bombing as they take shelter in a Javanese school. (AFP)
The deadly al-Mawasi attack is not the first incident since the conflict began on October 7 in which the Israeli military has been accused of neglecting the safety of civilians and violating international humanitarian law in its pursuit of Hamas commanders.
At least 38,900 Palestinians, including more than 13,000 children, have been killed in fighting since the October 7 attack led by Hamas, according to the UN human rights office. The proportion of combatants killed is a matter of debate.
The Israeli military's bombing campaign, which Israeli officials say is aimed at Hamas and not civilian targets, has destroyed medical, health and educational infrastructure across the besieged Palestinian territories.
Last month, the Israeli army killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinians in the crowded Nusirat refugee camp in central Gaza in an operation that rescued four hostages.
The Israeli military has said that “under 100” Palestinians were killed, but it is unclear how many of them were “terrorists”.
But nearly a quarter of the 142 killed in the operation were women and children, Al-Awda Hospital in Nasirat told BBC Arabic's “Gaza Today” program, adding that another 250 people were wounded.
Children walk past a destroyed classroom in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
United Nations spokesman Jeremy Lawrence expressed “deep shock” at the impact on civilians in Nusirat, saying the actions of Israeli forces “seriously call into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution… has been.”
In March, the Israeli military raided Gaza's largest medical facility, al-Shifa Hospital, claiming that Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants were hiding there.
Gaza's Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas, announced that around 3,000 people were sheltering in al-Shafa at the time of the Israeli attack. According to the Geneva-based NGO Euro-Med Monitor, at least 1,500 Palestinians, including 13 children and 21 patients, were killed in the two-week offensive.
Israeli officials said more than 200 terrorists were killed in and around al-Shifa and hundreds were arrested, including several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
Due to the lack of reporting access to Gaza, it has been impossible to independently verify the reported numbers.
Israeli soldiers drive a military vehicle on the border between Israel and Gaza. (Reuters)
Between July 8 and 12, Israel attacked six schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, killing dozens of civilians sheltering in the area, before reportedly destroying the UN agency's headquarters in the city. Gaza will be destroyed on July 15.
Israel has accused local UNRWA staff of involvement in the October 7 attack in southern Israel, which prompted the UN agency to launch an internal investigation and several major donors, including the United States, to freeze funding for its operations in Gaza and across the region. do
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called Israel's attack on the agency's headquarters in Gaza “another episode of flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law.”
“UN institutions must be protected at all times,” he said in a post on X. They should never be used for military or war purposes. Every war has rules. Gaza is no exception to this rule.”
In a separate post, Lazzarini emphasized that “schools should never be used for war or military purposes by any of the parties to the conflict.”
Significant Civilian Casualty Events
• October 7, 2023: 1,200 Israelis and other nationals are killed in southern Israel, hundreds are taken hostage, in a Hamas attack.
• October 31, 2023: More than 110 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on a “senior Hamas commander” in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
• February 29, 2024: 112 Palestinians are killed while waiting for help, 760 others are injured outside Gaza City amid Israeli gunfire and terror.
• April 1: 7 World Central Kitchen workers are killed in Israeli strikes in violation of military procedures on an aid convoy in Gaza.
• May 27: 45+ Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on “two senior Hamas commanders” in Rafah.
• June 9: 274 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military strike that led to the release of 4 hostages in the Nusirat refugee camp.
• July 13: 90+ Palestinians killed, 300 injured in Israeli airstrike on Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif in al-Mawasi.
Source: Gaza Ministry of Health, Government of Israel
He warned that “all the rules of war have been broken in Gaza”, and said: “The clear and continuous disregard for international humanitarian laws continues.”
Israel has consistently denied allegations of targeting civilian infrastructure and accuses Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups of using tunnels under Gaza hospitals to attack and hide weapons, thereby using people as human shields.
A New York-based international lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arab News that in the Gaza war, “international law remains relevant as a framework for accountability and justice by providing mechanisms to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable. Genocide and other crimes.”
Palestinians walk on a street full of sewage in Deir al-Balah. (AFP)
The International Criminal Court, which prosecutes those accused of war crimes, has attempted to hold “both sides” to account for war crimes.
Israeli media reported on July 17 that Israeli officials believe the International Criminal Court is likely to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant within the next two weeks.
In May, Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, submitted a request for the issuance of arrest warrants against two Israelis and three Palestinians suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hamas commander Deif was among the Palestinians listed in the ICC's arrest warrant, along with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau, and Yahya Sanwar, the head of the Islamist movement in Gaza.
The arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant accused them of using starvation as a tool of war, extermination and deliberate attack on civilians, among other war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Khan said he had “reasonable grounds” to believe the five men were “criminally responsible” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza war.
This decision angered the leadership of Hamas, Israel and even the United States. US President Joe Biden described the move as “horrendous” and said “there is no equality – nothing – between Israel and Hamas”.
Hamas said the ICC prosecutor “identifies the victim with the executioner” and called for the charges against its leaders to be dropped.
Israel has always denied accusations of targeting civilian infrastructure. (AFP)
The New York-based international lawyer said that while international law and current developments “lay the foundation for addressing crimes and fostering a more just and peaceful world,” its implementation “can be inconsistent and politically influenced.”
On July 19, the United Nations International Court of Justice in The Hague declared Israel's occupation and annexation of Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, “illegal.”
The International Court of Justice, stating that Israel's discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition of racial discrimination and apartheid, also ordered Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands “as soon as possible.”
Israel has carried out dozens of attacks on the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, killing at least 500 Palestinians, 143 of them children, according to UN figures.
However, the recent ICJ ruling is a non-binding advisory opinion sought by the UN General Assembly in 2022 and was not directly related to the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
In response to the ruling, Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying, “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land – not in our eternal capital of Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank).
No false decision in The Hague distorts this historical truth, and in the same way, the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our land cannot be disputed.
In December last year, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Between July 8 and 12, Israel attacked six schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, killing dozens of civilians sheltering in the area. (Reuters)
The International Court of Justice issued an interim ruling in January, which was revised in May, ordering Israel to “immediately cease its military offensive” and calling on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release the hostages.
Regardless, Israel has continued to bomb Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge, while Hamas is believed to still be holding 116 hostages.
No amount of litigation has brought the dispute any closer to resolution.
Diplomats and regional observers continue to urge both sides to accept an immediate ceasefire, exchange hostages and prisoners, and actively pursue a solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
