On Friday, March 24, Israeli forces conducted a raid on the Gaza Strip town of al-Shati. The raid resulted in the death of four Palestinian civilians, including a three-year-old girl. This marks the deadliest day in over a year for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.Since the start of October, the Palestinian people have faced a wave of raids and killings. On October 1st, Israeli forces fatally shot Ibrahim Abu Thahir, a Palestinian teenager from Hebron who was carrying out his daily routine. The raid that led to his death left three other Palestinians wounded.
On October 2nd, Israeli forces raided the home of Mohammad al-Qiq in Beit Ur Al-Tahta village, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. At 7am that morning, Mohammad al-Qiq woke up to find four masked soldiers standing outside his bedroom window. Moments later, they entered his home and started shooting at him and his family members. Mohammad al-Qiq was killed along with his brother Mahmoud and their mother Suha; their three-year-old daughter was also killed in the attack.
On October 3rd, an Israeli raid on Quds village near Jenin resulted in the death of Mohammad Abu Khater, a 55-year old man from Quds who had gone outside to answer a call for prayer when he was shot by Israeli forces. Mohammad Abu Khater’s 38 year old son Wasim was also killed during the raid while trying to help him; another son survived but is now wheelchair bound as a result of his injuries sustained in the attack.
The day after these raids, on October 4th, an Israeli raid on Rafa town in central Gaza left four Palestinian civilians dead: two
The UN Human Rights Council has called for an independent investigation into the raid
On Tuesday, July 14, Israeli soldiers raided a home in the Gaza Strip town of al-Qusqin, killing at least nine people and wounding over 30. The UN Human Rights Council has called for an independent investigation into the raid. Israeli officials have disputed the account of what happened inside the home and say that any casualties were caused when militants fired at the soldiers.
In a statement released on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein condemned “the lethal raid carried out by Israeli forces in al-Qusqin, which resulted in the killing of nine civilians, including five children.” He added that “such violations of international human rights and humanitarian law must be promptly and thoroughly investigated.”
The Israeli military has come under repeated criticism from human rights groups for its actions in Gaza, where it has been waging an aerial campaign against Hamas since December 2014. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 2,100 Palestinians have died as a result of the conflict; over 70 percent of those deaths have been attributed to Israel.
Israel has continued to carry
The Israeli military carried out a lethal raid in the Gaza Strip on Monday, marking the deadliest day in over a year. At least 18 people were killed and dozens more wounded in the attack, according to Palestinian officials. The casualties make Monday the deadliest day of violence since 2014. In response to the attack, Hamas vowed to retaliate with “all means.” On Saturday, Israel launched a series of airstrikes against targets in Gaza after militants fired rockets into Israeli territory. The airstrikes killed two Israelis and injured six others.
