Palestinian territory - The Israeli occupation army burned displaced people alive in Mawasi Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip after directly targeting their displacement tents, killing 22 Palestinians, half of whom were women and children. An additional 18 people suffered burn wounds during the attack.
At approximately 6:07 p.m. on Wednesday, Israeli aircraft and helicopters fired multiple missiles at the tents of displaced people in Mawasi Khan Yunis, an area Israel claims to be a safe humanitarian zone. The displaced people were burned alive in their ramshackle tents, resulting in the death of 22 Palestinians—including eight children and three women, one of whom was a mother and her two daughters from the Shurab family—while 18 others suffered burns and various other wounds.
Based on details collected by Euro-Med Monitor's field team regarding the bombing operation, the Israeli army deliberately targeted civilians. The operation began with a request to evacuate part of the targeted area, during which an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at the displaced people as they were evacuating. The raids were subsequently repeated across a 700-meter area, directly striking the displaced people's tents and setting them ablaze.
Later, the Israeli army declared that it had targeted a Hamas Movement leader who was actually a local Internal Security Service official. This suggests that Israel is still working to destroy the entire police and internal security apparatus to sow chaos and anarchy throughout the Gaza Strip.
The assassination of an internal security officer is a crime in and of itself, and it does not justify the use of excessive force or a lack of concern for civilian casualties.
In an area home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, the Euro-Med field team reviewed harrowing accounts and evidence of children's charred and dismembered remains being retrieved, reflecting an unprecedented level of Israeli brutality through the use of incendiary bombs and shells.
This was not an isolated incident; rather, it was a manifestation of Israel's systematic genocide against all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, targeting and killing them wherever they may be, including in the "humanitarian zone" that Israel maintains is safe.
Israel used direct destructive firepower there, burning and killing a large number of people who had been forcibly displaced from their homes throughout the Gaza Strip, and then pushed them to this area so Israel could bomb them nonstop.
On 10 September, after midnight, Israeli aircraft dropped three American-made MK-84 bombs on a group of sleeping displaced people in the Mawasi neighbourhood of Khan Yunis. The bombs created three craters several meters deep and wide, burying roughly twenty tents with the families inside. Since there were no evacuation warnings prior to the bombing, the Israeli army's intent to kill as many civilians as possible is evidenced by the use of American bombs, which have a wide destructive effect in an area crowded with tents and displaced people, leading to an initial death toll of over 60, including the dead and wounded.
As part of the crime of genocide, Israeli planes carried out numerous raids on the tents of the displaced in the Al-Mawasi area, burning and killing scores of Palestinians while burying many more in the sand.
By stating that members of Palestinian factions are present in the region, Israel is attempting to justify its massacres, though these claims are typically unverified. According to field investigations, Israel deliberately carries out raids during Palestinian civilian gathering times, which are visible to surveillance cameras and footage recorded by its aircraft. This allows Israel to target individuals it claims are of interest in locations and situations that are far from civilians, or by using precise or at least proportionate weapons, yet it also intentionally kills civilians and causes the greatest number of casualties and injuries possible.
Israel is still required to uphold the principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, and to ensure that all of its rules pertaining to humanity, distinction, military necessity, proportionality, and appropriate precautions are applied. This is an unavoidable duty that Israel must uphold and guarantee throughout the preparation and execution of all its military operations, without exception, including the selection of techniques and weaponry designed to minimise civilian casualties and injuries.
Israel also has an obligation to refrain from military action if the number of civilian casualties and injuries exceeds the military benefit; otherwise, it would be committing a serious crime, which in the case of the Gaza Strip would be considered genocide.
Such massacres, which systematically target civilians in a purely and repeatedly cruel manner, are met with a shameful state of silence and disregard, effectively giving Israel the green light to continue these atrocities in a blatant attempt to kill and exterminate Palestinians on a large scale.
The United States is complicit in this crime because it provides the Israeli army with weapons and incendiary and destructive bombs, even though it knows these weapons are used to kill hundreds of civilians each time. The decision-makers responsible must be held accountable for their complicity in these crimes.
The Israeli killing strategy reveals a clear policy to exterminate Palestinian civilians throughout the Gaza Strip, instill fear in them, deny them shelter or stability—even for a brief period, force them to flee repeatedly, destroy them, and subject them to life-threatening conditions.
Bombing is also being carried out throughout the Strip, targeting areas designated as humanitarian zones, with a particular focus on shelters, including those set up in UNRWA-run schools.
All nations must fulfill their international obligations by preventing Israel from committing the crime of genocide and other serious crimes in the Gaza Strip, protecting civilians there, ensuring Israel abides by international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice, enforcing effective sanctions against it, and halting all forms of military, financial, and political support and cooperation, including the immediate suspension of the sale, export, and transfer of weapons to Israel, including export licenses and military aid, and ensuring it is held accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people. It is necessary to implement the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against the Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister.
The United States and other nations that provide Israel with any kind of support or assistance in connection with the commission of these crimes—including aid and contractual relationships in military, intelligence, political, legal, financial, media, and other areas that contribute to the continuation of these crimes—must be held accountable for their complicity and partnership with Israel in committing these crimes.
