Israeli Offensive on Gaza Strip August 2022

Field Update 3:

Time: 19:00 GMT

Date: 06 August 2022

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continue its offensive on the Gaza Strip for the second day in a row. Further to the second field update published in the afternoon, the death toll since the beginning of the Israeli offensive has risen to 14, including 4 civilians: 1 women and a girl, while 140 others have been injured, including 23 children, 13 women and 5 in serious condition.

The following are the most significant developments:

13:00: IOF’s warplanes targeted a 3-storey house belonging to Khalifah family, western Gaza, and completely destroyed it, rendering 4 families of 11 individuals, including 3 children and 4 women, homeless. Before the attack, IOF had warned one of the neighbors by phone to evacuate and then targeted the house with a drone missile.  Around 15 minutes later, IOF’s warplanes bombed the house, completely destroyed it, and caused damage to nearby houses.  

13:30: IOF’s warplanes launched a missile at an agricultural land in Sho’asha area, northeastern Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.  As a result, Hasan Mohammed Yousif Mansour (28) was killed and another person was seriously injured and referred to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

14:00: 3 civilians, including a woman and a child, were injured after an IOF warplane launched 2 missiles at an agricultural land, northwestern Beit Lahia village.

15:55: IOF fired a shell at a group of people gathering in front of Hussein ‘Ali al-Zuwaidi’s house, northeastern Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip.  As a result, 2 civilians, including the house owner’s son, Nour Al-Deen (18), sustained shrapnel wounds all over their bodies.  Due to their serious condition, they were referred to al-Shifa Hospital, where Nour al-Deen was pronounced dead at around 18:30.

In the afternoon, at different times, IOF’s drones launched missiles at 4 houses in Beit Hanoun, but no casualties were reported.

17:30: a woman was injured after IOF targeted a land with 3 missiles, north of al-Nuseirat refugee camp; as a result, nearby houses sustained damage.

18:00: 3 Palestinians, including a girl, were injured after IOF targeted with a missile a group of people near Abu Sharekh intersection in Jabalia.

PCHR fears that there will be more civilian casualties in an area considered among one of most densely populated areas in the world and where there is not any form of protection, including public and private shelters or even safe corridors.  PCHR brings to mind that in recent offensives on the Strip, civilians and civilian objects were always under IOF’s attacks as a way of exerting pressure on the Palestinian armed groups.

PCHR emphasizes that these airstrikes violate the principles of necessity and proportionality while conducting directed attacks against densely populated areas and use of weapons based on collective punishment is a grave breach of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and amount to war crimes.

PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate action in order to stop the Israeli crimes and avoid any further deterioration of the humanitarian situation.