By Nadine Osman
London (The Muslim News): Israeli indiscriminate airstrikes by Israesl Defence Forces across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 Palestinians and seven in the occupied West Bank in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence. Among the dead, six members of a single family were killed in a strike on their home in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Three children were injured in the same attack.
In Gaza City, two more airstrikes claimed 12 lives, including two children and a woman, leaving several others critically injured. Witnesses say one of the attacks flattened a home in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood, killing members of the Sheikh family.
Further south in Rafah, two more Palestinians were killed in a drone strike. A separate airstrike in southern Gaza City claimed the lives of a woman and two young girls. Rescue teams continue to search through the rubble for survivors.
The violence is not limited to Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces killed at least seven Palestinians on Thursday. During a military raid in Qabatiya, near Jenin, three young men were fatally shot after Israeli troops surrounded their home and opened fire. Families in the area fled amid the chaos.
Disturbingly, footage from the raid shows Israeli soldiers pushing the bodies of the three men off a rooftop, a move the Israeli military later described as “a serious incident” not aligned with their values. The military claimed the men were gunmen, and they also conducted a drone strike targeting more alleged gunmen in a car.
International humanitarian law requires decent treatment of dead bodies, including enemy combatants. Geneva Conventions I (Art. 15) and II (Art. 18) mandate their collection, identification, and honourable treatment. Geneva Convention IV (Art. 27) ensures humane treatment, even posthumously. Additional Protocol I (Arts. 34, 130) further stipulates that the dead be treated with dignity, properly buried or cremated, and identified.
Israeli forces also fired on journalists covering the raid and blocked medical teams from reaching the besieged house. The Palestine Red Crescent Society later confirmed that two more bodies were recovered from the site.
Later that evening, Israeli attacks wounded a young man and a child and killed two more Palestinians in separate incidents.
In another development, armed illegal Israeli settlers—protected by Israeli forces—seized a large number of sheep from Palestinians in the southern West Bank.
Settlers also attacked Palestinian homes in the Masafer Yatta area, a cluster of 19 villages in Hebron, adding to the rising tensions.
Since October 7, Israeli forces have killed over 710 Palestinians and injured nearly 5,700 in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes have claimed the lives of more than 41,272 Palestinians, including 16,795 children and 11,378 women, while 95,551 have been injured.
The violence continues to escalate, leaving devastation in its wake.
[Photo: Palestinians take shelter behind concrete column as Israeli army soldiers raid houses in alleys of Qabatiyah town, in south of Jenin, WestBank on 19, 2024. Photojournalist: Nedal Eshtayah/ AA]
