The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) ongoing commission of genocidal acts in the Gaza Strip, including the continued killings and the systematic destruction of all essentials for life in an increasingly overt and escalating manner. Israel is exploiting the international community’s preoccupation with the ongoing war involving Iran, as well as the evident decline in international attention to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) as a whole.
IOF commit these crimes as part of a systematic policy targeting the civilian population through direct airstrikes on houses, residential areas, and popular markets. This occurs alongside the continued siege, the closure of crossings, and the imposition of tightened restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, fuel, and essential commodities into the Gaza Strip. As a result, the humanitarian collapse is worsening, and the suffering of more than two million Palestinians is deepening, as they endure unprecedented and catastrophic conditions.
In one of the latest crimes documented by PCHR’s field researchers, at approximately 16:03 on Sunday, 15 March 2026, IOF warplanes targeted a police vehicle in al-Zawaydah village in the central Gaza Strip, killing eight people, including the Director of the Intervention Police in the central Gaza Strip, Eyad Abu Yousif. This crime comes as part of the recurring targeting of police officers and law-enforcement bodies in the Gaza Strip within a systematic Israeli policy aimed at undermining the internal security system and weakening the ability of civilian institutions to manage public life. Such direct targeting contributes to obstructing efforts to maintain order, protect property, and regulate the distribution of humanitarian aid. As a result, an environment of chaos and instability is created, and the suffering of the civilian population is compounded amid the severe humanitarian conditions prevailing across the Gaza Strip.
At approximately 07:05 on the same day, an Israeli explosive-laden drone targeted a residential apartment in the ‘Ayyash family home in the al-Sawarhah area, southwest of Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip. As a result, four Palestinians were killed, including a couple, their child, and another child from a neighboring family. Several other persons also sustained injuries of varying severity. Those killed were identified as Kamel ‘Abdel Naser Kamel ‘Ayyash (36); his wife, Halimah Mohammed Kamel ‘Ayyash (36), who was seven months pregnant with twins; their child, Ahmed Kamel ‘Ayyash (8); and Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hasanat (10), a displaced child who was living in a house near the targeted building.
At approximately 15:40 on Friday, 13 March 2026, an Israeli drone fired a missile at people gathered on Mushtaha Street in the al-Shuja’iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. As a result, three people were killed, including a child, and several others were injured. Those killed were identified as Mohammed Saher Mustafa al-Seiqali (17), ‘Abdullah Taysir Shomar (20), and Younis Sa’ed Mohammed ‘Ayyad (19).
At approximately 13:10 on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, an Israeli drone targeted a popular stall selling household tools near the Haidar intersection in western Gaza City. As a result, Basel Mahmoud Saleh Abu Wardah (37) was killed, and seven others sustained injuries of varying severity.
According to follow-up by our field researchers, since the ceasefire was declared on 10 October 2025, the IOF have continued air and artillery bombardments, gunfire, and recurrent demolitions within areas located along the so-called “yellow line,” aimed at destroying the remaining houses and buildings. According to the Ministry of Health, these attacks have so far killed 663 people and have wounded 1762 others. This brings the cumulative casualties since the onset of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, to 72,239 deaths and 171,861 injuries.
In parallel, humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip are deteriorating amid Israel’s ongoing closure of the Rafah Border Crossing since 28 February 2026, depriving thousands of patients and injured individuals, as well as students and holders of residency abroad, of their right to movement and access to medical treatment. Additionally, the Israeli occupation authorities continue to impose further restrictions on the movement of commodities and aid via the Kerem Shalom Commercial Crossing, as the actual entries have not exceeded 41% of the total trucks agreed to enter under the ceasefire agreement.
PCHR emphasizes that the IOF’s ongoing widescale killings and targeting of civilians, coupled with the continuing policies of closure, siege, and starvation, form a complementary pattern of acts that amount to crimes of genocide under international law, in particular the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
PCHR calls on the international community to take immediate measures to halt the ongoing crimes in the Gaza Strip; ensure the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid; guarantee the reopening of crossings, particularly the Rafah Border Crossing; provide urgent protection for the civilian population; and hold Israeli leaders accountable for the crimes they have committed before international justice mechanisms.
