On Tuesday, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed seven Palestinians and injured 15 others in a drone strike on a coffee shop crowded with civilians in western Gaza City, in one of the deadliest attacks in recent weeks. The attack reflects the IOF’s ongoing targeting of civilians in places where they have sought refuge and gathered, depriving them of any place where they might find safety, security, or stability. Palestinians continue to face killing, injury, and intimidation in their homes, shelters, displacement sites, and public spaces.

This incident comes as part of four attacks documented by PCHR’s field researchers between 15 and 18 August, reflecting an ongoing pattern of indiscriminate attacks targeting civilians, resulting in killings, injuries, and the spread of fear among the population. This underscores the IOF’s continued perpetration of crime of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, turning places where civilians live and seek shelter into open sites of killing and intimidation.

At approximately 17:55 on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, Israeli warplanes fired a missile at the “’Ala al-Helwah w al-Murrah” coffee shop, near Gaza’s seaport in western Gaza City. The strike killed seven Palestinians, including a child, and injured 15 others, including women and children; some sustained serious injuries. All of the injured were taken to al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City for medical treatment. Those killed were identified as Mohammed Hamdi Ahmed al-Masri (35); his son Jihad (13); ‘Essam Mohammed Mousa Mortaja (31); Mohammed Fathi Hussein Nasser (34); Samid Samir Harb Abu Habel (33); Mohammed Najeeb ‘Issa al-‘Attar (28); and Mus’ab Mohammed Hassan Madi (24.)

At approximately 14:30 on Sunday, 16 August 2026, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a displacement tent near the al-Aqsa University Intersection in western al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, injuring seven Palestinians to varying degrees. Around five hours after the strike, medical sources announced the death of one of the injured, identified as Tariq Anwar Khamis al-Ra’ie, 33, who succumbed to his serious injuries.

At approximately 16:50 on Saturday, 15 August 2026, several areas across Khan Younis, including Abu Hmeid Intersection, al-Sikka Street and the areas south of it, al-Sonniyah Mosque Street, al-Tinah Street, and the al-Batn al-Sameen area, south and east of the city, came under artillery shelling and smoke grenades fired from IOF military vehicles, alongside heavy gunfire from helicopters and intensive drone activity. These attacks killed 14-year-old Suheil Mas’oud Rabba’a Shalouf on al-Tinah Street, within the so-called “Yellow Zone.” The retrieval of his body was coordinated through the International Committee of the Red Cross, and his body arrived at Nasser Medical Complex on Sunday morning, 16 August 2026.

Also, three Palestinians were injured in separate areas as a result of indiscriminate shelling. The shelling also hit several houses in the al-Masri family neighborhood in Joret al-Lout area, adjacent to the so-called “Yellow Zone,” destroying three houses and causing fires in the area. A shell also struck a house belonging to the Shurrab family, without causing any injuries.

At approximately 11:50 on the same day, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a motorcycle traveling near a food distribution center operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), near the entrance to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital Street on Salah al-Deen Street in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip. The strike injured three Palestinians, including a child, while the motorcycle driver sustained critical injuries.

These attacks demonstrate the IOF’s intent to carry out extrajudicial executions (assassinations) in densely populated civilian areas, as exemplified by the “’Ala al-Helwah w al-Murrah” coffee shop incident, which occurred in broad daylight at a place crowded with civilian visitors. This indicates prior deliberate intent to cause the highest possible number of civilian casualties among Palestinians.

PCHR emphasizes that carrying out such attacks in densely populated civilian areas, despite the IOF’s possession of advanced surveillance and reconnaissance technologies with drones capable of tracking individuals’ movements, identifying targets, and conducting highly precise strikes with advanced weaponry, indicates a deliberate intent to inflict the highest possible number of civilian casualties, contrary to the IOF’s stated claims that such strikes are directed against specific individuals for the purpose of assassinating them.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) emphasizes that these four attacks form part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at perpetuating killing and intimidation, constituting a direct continuation of the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

PCHR reiterates its call on the international community to take immediate and effective action to halt Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip, ensure the protection of civilians, and put an end to killings, attacks, destruction, and forced displacement. PCHR further calls for ensuring accountability for those responsible for international crimes committed against Palestinians and for taking all necessary measures to hold perpetrators accountable, thereby ending impunity for the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.