The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the ongoing targeting of civilians and civilian objects by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the Gaza Strip. Over the past four days, several Palestinians, including children, have been killed and injured in a wave of attacks targeting civilian gatherings, displacement tents, homes, and civilian property. PCHR emphasizes that these ongoing attacks, coupled with Israeli threats to expand the scope of bombardment and the issuance of new evacuation orders, are placing civilians at increasing risk and further exacerbating the catastrophic conditions resulting from the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip for nearly three years.
PCHR expresses concern over the Israeli Government’s statement yesterday evening, Sunday, announcing intensification of military strikes across the Gaza Strip in response to kite launches by children. PCHR particularly warns of Israel’s stated intention to order the evacuation of areas from which kites are launched. Such threats could signal preparations to expand the scope of attacks against populated areas and further advance forced displacement, at a time when more than two million Palestinians are confined to an area comprising no more than 30% of the Gaza Strip’s total territory and are living under dire humanitarian conditions. This comes amid the deployment of IOF in the so-called Yellow Zone, which has effectively annexed more than two-thirds of the Gaza Strip’s area.
Between 21 and 24 August 2026, PCHR’s field researchers documented several attacks that reveal a persistent pattern of Israeli attacks indiscriminately targeting civilians, causing deaths and injuries, and spreading fear among the population. These attacks demonstrate the IOF’s continued perpetration of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, turning places where civilians live into open sites of killing and intimidation.
On Monday, 24 August 2026, at approximately 1:40, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a tent near al-Deirawi Mosque in Deir al-Balah, killing Mohammed ‘Abdel Nasser Jaber Abu Asad (27) and seriously injuring his brother. The two brothers were staying in the tent next to the rubble of their home, which had previously been targeted by Israeli warplanes at the beginning of the offensive, killing several members of their family at the time.
At approximately 17:00 on Sunday, 23 August 2026, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a group of people in the vicinity of al-Albani Mosque, southwest of Khan Younis, injuring seven of them, including five children. They were transferred to Nasser Medical Complex, where one of the injured reportedly sustained serious injuries. The latter identified as Hazem Bassam Mousa succumbed to his injuries at dawn the following day.
At approximately 21:40 on the same day, an Israeli drone fired a missile at people gathered at the northern entrance to al-Maghazi refugee camp, near Salah al-Deen Street, killing Isma’il Ibrahim Deeb Abu Foul (24) and injuring two others.
At approximately 13:05 on Saturday, 22 August 2026, an Israeli drone bombed the yard of a house belonging to al-Hasanat family in the vicinity of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme in al-Bassa area, north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. As a result, Sharif Hussein Mohammed al-Hasanat (44) was killed while a woman sustained minor injuries.
At approximately 12:15 on the same day, IOF also issued an evacuation order for a residential square located on the eastern outskirts of al-Farouq neighborhood along Salah al-Deen Street in al-Zawaydah in the central Gaza Strip. Around 45 minutes later, Israeli warplanes conducted three airstrikes in the area. One of the strikes targeted the ‘Afana Barrack at the northern entrance to al-Zawaydah, destroying it and an adjacent house and causing extensive damage to surrounding property and displacement tents. Moreover, seven people were injured, including Mohammed ‘Abdel Salam Hasan Taha (4) who sustained shrapnel wounds to the head. His condition was described as critical before medical sources announced his death after succumbing to his injuries later that day.
In a separate incident, the body of Ibrahim Mohammed Soliman Kaware’a (29) arrived in Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis on Friday evening, 21 August 2026, after he was found in the Yellow Zone where IOF and armed militias affiliated with them are stationed near the Collage of Sciences and Technology in al-Batn al-Sameen area in southern Khan Younis. He had been missing since leaving his tent in western al-Namsawi neighborhood on the same day morning.
His father told PCHR’s field researcher that the family could not locate him until they received notification that his body was in the morgue at Nasser Medical Complex. The family then learned that he had sustained three bullet wounds to the head, chest, and abdomen. After his body was examined by forensic specialists, the family received it and buried him in a cemetery behind al-Namsawi neighborhood.
In light of the above, PCHR reiterates its call on the international community to take immediate 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 their perpetrators accountable, thereby ending impunity for the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
