LONDON: Israel's military has killed dozens of Palestinian civilians and injured hundreds more, including children, in its relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza, despite many of its areas of operation being designated “safe zones”.
Palestinian health authorities said on Monday that 16 civilians were killed in eastern Khan Younis under Israeli shelling, even after Israel issued new orders to evacuate some neighborhoods to keep civilians away from fighting areas.
This latest bloodshed followed Israel's July 13 airstrikes on the Al-Mawasi camp, another designated safe zone in southern Gaza, which killed at least 90 Palestinians and injured 300 others, according to Gaza's health ministry.
Israel said the target of this attack was Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Rafa Salama, commander of the group's Khan Younis Brigade, who Israel believes masterminded the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.
A Hamas official denied reports of his death, telling the AFP news agency after the strike that Deif “well and directly supervised” operations, but he provided no evidence for the claim.
Meanwhile, Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said “there are increasing signs that we have succeeded in eliminating Mohammed Deif.”
Speaking to Al-Arabiya TV channel on Friday, he said: “Rafa Salama was indeed eliminated; Mohammed Deif and Salama sat side by side during the strike. Hamas is hiding what happened to Deif.”
Herzi Halevi, Israel's chief of staff, has also accused Hamas of “hiding the results” of the strike on a western Khan Younis compound, where both Deif and Salama were allegedly hiding.
Whether the attack on Al-Mawasi was successful or not, the attack on an area filled with civilians drew global condemnation, with observers accusing the Israeli military of violating international humanitarian law.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, wrote on the social media platform X: “War has limits that are inscribed in international law; ends cannot justify all means. We condemn the violation.”
He added: “Once again, we demand access to independent investigations and accountability, and for an end to the horrific situation of innocent civilians in Gaza.”
On the day of the attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi “to express our grave concern over the recent civilian casualties in Gaza.”
The deadly Al-Mawasi attack was not the first incident since the conflict began on October 7 in which the Israeli military has been accused of disregarding the safety of civilians and violating international humanitarian law in its pursuit of Hamas commanders.
In the fighting since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, at least 38,900 Palestinians, including more than 13,000 children, have been killed, according to the UN human rights office. What proportion of the dead were combatants is a matter of dispute.
The Israeli army's bombing campaign, which Israeli officials say is aimed at Hamas and not civilian targets, has also destroyed medical, sanitation and educational infrastructure across the Palestinian enclave.
Last month, in an operation that rescued four hostages, the Israeli military killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinians in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The Israeli military said there were “under 100” Palestinian casualties but was unsure 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 Nuseirat told BBC Arabic's “Gaza Today” program, adding that 250 others were injured.
UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence expressed “deep shock” at the impact on civilians in Nuseirat, saying the actions of Israeli forces “seriously call into question whether the principles of separation, proportionality and prudence … were upheld.”
In March, the Israeli military raided Gaza's largest medical facility, Al-Shifa Hospital, where it claimed Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants were hiding.
About 3,000 people were sheltering in Al-Shifa at the time of Israel's raid, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. At least 1,500 Palestinians, including 13 children and 21 patients, were killed in the two-week raid, according to Euro-Med Monitor, a non-governmental organization headquartered in Geneva.
Israeli officials said “over 200 terrorists” were killed in and around Al-Shifa, as well as hundreds detained, including several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.
It has been impossible to independently verify the reported figures due to a lack of reported access to Gaza.
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 demolishing the UN agency's headquarters in Gaza City on July 15.
Israel has accused local staff at UNRWA of participating in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, prompting the UN agency to launch an internal investigation and several major donors, including the United States, to suspend funding for its operations in Gaza and throughout the region .
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called Israel's attack on his agency's headquarters in Gaza “another episode in the flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law.”
In a post on X, he said: “UN facilities must be protected at all times. They must never be used for military or combat purposes. Every war has rules. Gaza is no exception.”
In a separate post, Lazzarini stressed that “schools must never be used for fighting or military purposes by any party to the conflict.”
NOTABLE CIVIL WRONGFUL INCIDENTS
• October 7, 2023: 1,200 Israelis and other citizens killed in southern Israel, hundreds taken hostage, in Hamas-led attack.
• October 31, 2023: 110+ Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack targeting “senior Hamas commanders” in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
• February 29, 2024: 112 Palestinians waiting for help killed, 760 more injured outside Gaza City amid Israeli gunfire and panic.
• April 1: 7 World Central Kitchen workers killed in Israeli strikes in defiance of military procedures on convoy delivering aid to Gaza.
• May 27: 45+ Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on “two senior Hamas commanders” in Rafah.
• June 9: 274 Palestinians killed in Israeli military raid that freed 4 hostages held in Nuseirat refugee camp.
• July 13: 90+ Palestinians killed, 300 injured in Israeli airstrike on Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in Al-Mawasi.
Source: Gaza Ministry of Health, Israeli Government.
Warning that “all the rules of war have been broken in Gaza,” he said: “The flagrant and persistent disregard for international humanitarian law continues unabated.”
Israel has consistently denied allegations that it targets civilian infrastructure, accusing Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups of using tunnels under Gaza hospitals to carry out attacks and hide weapons, thereby using the population as human shields.
Commenting on Israel's behavior, a New York-based international lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Arab News that in the Gaza war, “international law remains relevant as a framework for accountability and justice by providing mechanisms to hold the perpetrators responsible for war crimes, genocide and other atrocities.”
The International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes, has attempted to hold “both parties to the conflict” accountable for alleged war crimes.
Israeli officials believe the ICC is likely to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, Israeli media reported on July 17.
In May, Karim Khan, the ICC's chief prosecutor, submitted an application for arrest warrants against two Israeli and three Palestinian individuals suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Hamas commander Deif was among the Palestinians listed in the ICC arrest warrant, along with Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau, and Yahya Sinwar, the head of the Islamist movement in Gaza.
The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant accused them of using starvation as a tool of war, extermination and deliberately attacking civilian populations, along with other war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Khan said he had “reasonable grounds” to believe the five men bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza war.
The decision sparked anger among the Hamas leadership, in Israel and even in the United States. US President Joe Biden described the move as “outrageous” and said there was “no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
Hamas said ICC prosecutors were “equating the victim with the executioner” and called for the charges against its leader to be dropped.
The New York-based international lawyer said that while international law and ongoing development “create a foundation for addressing atrocities and promoting a more just and peaceful world,” its enforcement “can be inconsistent and subject to political influence.”
On July 19, the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague declared Israel's occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, “illegal” in a landmark ruling.
Finding that Israel's discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition of racial segregation and apartheid, the ICJ also ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as soon as possible”.
Since October 7, Israel has also carried out dozens of raids in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, killing at least 500 Palestinians, including 143 children, according to UN figures.
However, the ICJ's latest ruling is a non-binding advisory opinion requested by the UN General Assembly in 2022, before the Israeli assault on Gaza and not directly linked to it.
In response to the verdict, Netanyahu's office issued a statement saying: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land – not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank).
“No lying decision in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and likewise the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our homeland cannot be questioned.”
Last December, South Africa brought a case against Israel at the ICJ, alleging that it had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The ICJ issued a provisional ruling in January, amended in May, ordering Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive” and calling on Hamas to release the hostages immediately and unconditionally.
Regardless, Israel has continued to bomb Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip where well over a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, while Hamas is believed to still be holding 116 hostages.
No amount of legal wrangling has brought the conflict closer to a resolution.
Diplomats and regional observers continue to urge both sides to accept an immediate ceasefire, to exchange hostages and prisoners, and to actively pursue a solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
