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Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash
Crimes Targeting Refugee Shelters in Gaza Expose the International Community's Weakness Before Israel
In a statement today, Mwatana for Human Rights asserted that Israel continues to defy the global conscience, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court by committing further horrific massacres against Palestinian civilians seeking refuge in facilities operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). These actions reveal the international community's weakness in the face of Israel and its complicity in genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity that have afflicted the Palestinian people for over nine months. The latest appalling Israeli attacks, along with the daily massacres intentionally carried out by the Israeli army against civilians in the Gaza Strip, leave no doubt about the current Israeli government's—led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers—determination to continue its genocidal war against Palestinian civilians, resulting in 39,000 deaths so far, most of whom are women and children.
Abdulrasheed Al-Faqih, Vice Chairperson of Mwatana for Human Rights, stated, "Israel relentlessly concocts excuses to perpetrate more horrific massacres against Palestinians, flagrantly disregarding the special protection accorded to humanitarian agencies, their facilities, staff, and operations." Al-Faqih added, "This rampant killing places Israel and its officials directly in the crosshairs of future international justice and accountability." He further remarked, "The lukewarm international responses encourage Israel to continue its grave crimes against Palestinians, backed by the United States and other countries that support Israel and its crimes, instead of fulfilling their moral, legal, and political duties by taking serious action to stop these horrific crimes."
Mwatana noted that the Israeli army committed its latest massacre in tandem with the announcement by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden of the release of $3.5 billion in funds to Israel for the purchase of weapons and equipment to commit more crimes against Palestinian women and children in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in a provocative challenge to human conscience, international will, and the free world.
Mwatana reiterated that the United States is directly implicated in the crimes Israel has been committing in the Gaza Strip since October 8, 2023, through continuous military, diplomatic, political, and financial support for the Israeli government in its ongoing genocide against Palestinian civilians. This genocide would not have persisted without the flow of American support at all levels, which also exposes the United States' lack of seriousness in pushing for an end to the raging war in the Gaza Strip, a conflict that has turned the besieged territory into a mass grave, with its ruins crying out to the world's conscience for help, yet finding none.
Attack on Al-Tab’een School
At dawn on Saturday, August 10, 2024, Israeli occupation forces launched a horrific attack targeting Al-Tab’een School, which was sheltering Palestinian refugees during their dawn prayers in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in central Gaza. The assault claimed the lives of over 100 Palestinians and left hundreds injured. This brings the total number of schools sheltering refugees that have been targeted by the Israeli military to six in just one week.
Following the massacre, the Israeli army claimed in a statement that its strike killed about 20 leaders of Palestinian factions and that Hamas and Islamic Jihad had used the school as a military facility—an allegation denied by the factions. Hamas, in a statement on Telegram, described the Israeli airstrike on the school as a "horrific crime that marks a dangerous escalation in the unprecedented series of crimes and massacres in the history of wars."
International reactions swiftly condemned the atrocious crime committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians. The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, called Israel's strike on a school sheltering refugees in Gaza "horrific." In a post on his X account, he wrote, "The images of a school sheltering refugees in Gaza that was hit by an Israeli airstrike are horrifying, with reports of dozens of Palestinian casualties. At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres. We are dismayed by the terrible overall death toll."
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, also expressed her outrage on X: "In the largest and most shameful concentration camp of the 21st century, Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one 'safe zone' at the time." She highlighted that this is happening "With US and European weapons. And amid the indifference of all "civilised nations."
Attack on Al-Ja’ouni School
On Saturday, July 6, an Israeli strike on Al-Ja’ouni School, run by UNRWA and sheltering refugees in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, resulted in the deaths of at least 16 Palestinians and injuries to 50 others. This attack adds to a long list of violations affecting approximately 190 UNRWA facilities, some of which have been bombed multiple times, and some directly targeted. As a result of this pattern of attacks, 520 people have been killed and nearly 1,600 injured while seeking safety.
Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, stated, "We have had enough. At least 193 UNRWA staff members have been killed in Gaza. Nearly 190 UNRWA buildings have been damaged or destroyed, including schools that were demolished, and at least 500 refugees were killed while taking shelter in UNRWA schools and other buildings. Since October 7, Israeli forces have arrested UNRWA staff in Gaza, who reported being tortured and mistreated while detained in Gaza or Israel." Juliet Touma, UNRWA's Director of Communications, added, "Hundreds of women and children who were taking refuge in UNRWA facilities have been killed since the war began."
Mwatana for Human Rights emphasized that the extreme criminality exhibited by the Israeli military against civilians in the Gaza Strip confirms what Mwatana has repeatedly stated: the absence of an international mechanism for accountability and punishment for war crimes, which are committed on a large scale in various regions of the world, with the ongoing war in Gaza at its center. This war has exposed the fragility of the international system in deterring war criminals and protecting civilians.
Mwatana called on the international community to act urgently to devise an effective mechanism to rein in Israel, halt its continued genocide against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and compel it to stop its brutal war and promptly allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The organization highlighted that Israel's use of starvation as a weapon of war against civilians—children, women, and the elderly—is yet another war crime in its bloody record. Mwatana warned that if the international community fails to provide protection to Gaza's residents, the situation may persist, with massacres and violations sparing no one.
Mwatana urged the international community to fulfill its duty in preventing the recurrence of such crimes and holding those responsible accountable, as well as ending the horrific suffering of the people in Gaza. Mwatana reiterated its call to the international community, governments, the United Nations, international organizations, and the global human rights movement to support the efforts of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in pursuing those responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed within the jurisdiction of the Court in the State of Palestine since April 2, 2015.
