Occupied Palestinian territory - international community's inaction regarding Israel's heinous crimes in the Gaza Strip over the past 18 months is not only a disgraceful failure but also a de facto endorsement of further massacres and genocide—facilitating the continued mass murder of Palestinians and the systematic destruction of their means of subsistence in a blatant attempt to eradicate them entirely.
No matter what excuses Israel may offer, the systematic patterns of mass murder, continuous forced starvation, deliberate deprivation of essential survival resources, and the complete destruction of Gaza's infrastructure are unequivocally unacceptable. Under the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, these acts are considered genocide and are classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Any attempt to disguise these crimes as security concerns or military necessities is nothing more than blatant deception meant to conceal the crime of genocide. However, since these actions are clearly aimed at eradicating the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, such defenses do not change the legal reality. The international community must reject these defenses outright and emphasize the urgent need for swift action to hold those responsible accountable and prevent this crime against the people of Gaza from happening again.
Early on Tuesday, the Israeli occupation army launched hundreds of airstrikes across the five governorates of the Gaza Strip. More than 420 people were killed, including around 150 children and numerous women, while hundreds more were injured. These attacks primarily targeted tents, inhabited civilian homes, and shelters for the displaced.
For roughly five hours (from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.), the airstrikes were continuous and simultaneous, maintaining a violent pace that resulted in the death of one person in the Gaza Strip every minute during that specific period.
The intentional killing of large numbers of people was evident in the Israeli attacks. The Euro-Med field team reported that the Qaraiq family home in the Shuja'iyya neighborhoud, east of Gaza City, was targeted, resulting in the deaths of about 30 people. Additionally, the Al-Tabi'in School, which houses displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in central Gaza City, was hit, killing 25 people. In the southern Gaza Strip, seven more mass killings occurred in the governorates of Rafah and Khan Yunis, claiming the lives of approximately 60 members of the Abu Tayr, Al-Humaida, Aslih, Abu Sultan, Jarghoun, and Ghaboun families.
In multiple instances, Israeli airstrikes destroyed entire families—fathers, mothers, and children—or even extended families—grandparents, children, and grandchildren, according to an analysis of victim data. The Israeli occupation army committed these crimes more than two weeks after closing the crossings with the Gaza Strip, preventing the entry of fuel, vital medical supplies, and all other basic goods and food aid, including life-saving supplies. This has led to the collapse of all essential service sectors, making humanitarian response efforts even more difficult, particularly in providing medical care.
The systematic Israeli targeting of hospitals and health facilities, the direct bombing of ambulances and medical teams, and the suffocating blockade that has prevented the entry of medical supplies and fuel necessary to operate hospitals have all contributed to the complete collapse of Gaza's health system, which is now operating at nearly zero capacity. With the injured left to bleed to death without access to care, this deliberate destruction of the health sector will lead to a catastrophic rise in the death toll, making every injured person a potential victim.
The Israeli army immediately ordered the evacuation of several towns and cities along the Gaza Strip's eastern border following a series of intense airstrikes, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee into the unknown and escalating the humanitarian crisis to unprecedented levels.
Israel attempts to defend its mass murders by claiming it is targeting wanted individuals or Palestinian militants. However, these assertions have often gone unverified. Given that the Israeli military possesses highly advanced and accurate weaponry and surveillance capabilities, allowing it to target wanted individuals with precision—or at least proportionate force—this does not justify the killing of numerous civilians in the process. In fact, it intentionally causes maximum death and injury, targeting civilians in order to carry out genocide.
With regard to humanity, distinction, military necessity, proportionality, and taking appropriate precautions, Israel is still obligated to adhere to the principles of international law, including international humanitarian law. Israel has a clear obligation to enforce and ensure compliance with these requirements during the planning and execution of all military operations. This includes determining the military strategy and selecting weaponry in a way that minimizes civilian casualties
Israel has not stopped committing the crime of genocide since October 7, 2023, even during the ceasefire it violated this morning. It deliberately imposed catastrophic living conditions on the Palestinians and deprived them of the basic necessities needed to survive. However, its return to using deadly force against civilians threatens to expand the scope of genocide and could signal the implementation of plans and crimes even more dangerous than those it has committed over the past several months, especially given the full U.S. political and military support and the unwarranted international inaction.
During the ceasefire, Israel blocked the entry of vital supplies, including oxygen stations, generators, fuel, medical equipment, medications, and medical supplies, and halted the reconstruction of the hospitals it had destroyed. This underscores how it continues to devastate the health sector and deny civilians access to healthcare when they need it the most.
In addition to its return to committing mass killings, the Israeli occupation is continuing to create lethal living conditions aimed at exterminating Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, especially when considering the context of poverty, destruction, hunger, malnutrition, and the health and environmental disasters caused by the Israeli military attacks since October 2023.
The Israeli military escalation and the continued imposition of a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip reflect a clear Israeli strategy to entrench the crime of genocide, in accordance with the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which prohibits imposing living conditions on a group with the intent to destroy it, in whole or in part.
The Euro-Med Monitor calls on all relevant countries and entities to exert all possible pressure on Israel to halt all its military operations in the Gaza Strip, return to compliance with the ceasefire agreement, and refrain from taking any action that would escalate the humanitarian disaster in the region.
The Euro-Med Monitor calls on all countries to fulfill their international obligations, including imposing economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel, such as banning the export and import of weapons to and from Israel, halting military cooperation with it, freezing the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians, suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements, and supporting the work of the International Criminal Court in its investigations into the situation in Palestine, without obstructing its efforts in any way.
The Euro-Med Monitor urges the international community to fulfill its legal and humanitarian responsibilities regarding the need to implement the International Court of Justice's ruling on March 28, 2024, which calls for provisional measures obligating Israel to take the necessary and effective actions, in cooperation with the United Nations, to ensure the unhindered and timely delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip, in fulfillment of its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
