14 May 2024
For more than seven consecutive months, Israel has persisted in conducting a genocidal military campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza, resulting in the killing of over 35,000 Palestinians and leaving more than 78,000 injured. An additional estimated 10,000 Palestinians are still believed to be trapped under the rubble, presumably dead.
The ongoing genocide in Gaza unfolds against a backdrop of over seven decades of Israeli settler-colonial and apartheid subjugation and domination against the Palestinian people as a whole. While the atrocities in Gaza persist, Palestinians throughout historic Palestine endure ongoing settler-colonial oppression, particularly in the occupied West Bank.
Here’s a roundup of significant developments in the occupied Gaza Strip between 8 and 11 May 2024:
- In the early hours of Thursday, 9 May, Israeli forces launched a ground invasion in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, following intense bombardment that targeted four residential homes, streets, and agricultural lands. This marks the third incursion by Israeli forces into Al-Zaytoun since last November, each time committing further atrocities of widespread destruction, killings, and displacement of residents.
- The shutdown of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital, the main medical facility in the Rafah Governorate, has left Palestinians in Rafah with little to no access to healthcare. According to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), over one million Palestinians in Rafah have now access to only one hospital with a capacity of 16 beds, a field hospital serving solely as a trauma stabilization point, and one hospital offering maternity care.
- On the morning of Saturday, 11 May 2024, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders addressed to Rafah and Al-Shaboura refugee camps, along with the neighborhoods of Al-Edari, Al-Jneina, and Kherbet Al-Adas in blocks 6-9, 17, 25-27, and 31. The Israeli military instructed residents to head to the so-called ‘humanitarian zone’ in Al-Mawasi.
- On the same day, 11 May, the Israeli military once again ordered the evacuation of Jabaliya, located in northern Gaza. Between 11 and 12 May, Israeli ground forces invaded Jabaliya, coinciding with Israeli airstrikes targeting the area. The onslaught killed dozens Palestinians in horrifying massacres.
- The Rafah border crossing, which serves as a vital humanitarian aid lifeline for all of Gaza and the sole entry and exit point for individuals, has been shut down since 7 May 2024, resulting in a complete cessation of its operations. Additionally, Karem Abu Salem crossing has been almost completely halted since 5 May. Reportedly, Erez crossing was utilized for a limited provision of aid to northern Gaza on May 9.
Initial documentation of the most prominent attacks carried out by Israeli forces throughout the Gaza Strip between 8 and 11 May, 1by area:
Rafah:
- Around 8:27 pm on Wednesday, 8 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes targeted the home of the Eid family in Tal Al-Sultan, west of Rafah City. This attack resulted in the killing of eight family members, as well as displaced persons and neighbors, including a woman and four children.
- On 8 May 2024, four Palestinians, including a child, were killed in four Israeli airstrikes targeting Al-Shoka village and the Khaled Qeshta building in central Rafah. Additionally, one Palestinian died of wounds sustained in an attack on the Al-Tannour neighborhood three days earlier.
- On 8 May 2024, six Palestinian workers were injured by Israeli gunfire near Al-Tannour Square on Salah Al-Din Road. They were en route to the Karem Abu Salem Crossing in southeastern Rafah in a truck owned by the Shuhaiber family for transportation purposes. This was intended for transporting humanitarian aid following the announcement of the crossing’s reopening.
- Around 3:29 pm on Thursday, 9 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes struck the house of Jamal Lafi in Awni Dheir Street in Kherbet Al-Adas neighborhood in Rafah without any prior warning. The attack resulted in the death of three of his sons and a daughter, and left five others injured.
- On 9 May 2024, three Palestinians, including two children, were killed and others were injured during an Israeli raid at the Abu Tamima mosque in the Al-Barazil neighborhood, south of Rafah. Additionally, another Palestinian was killed in an aerial attack on a motorcycle near Salah Al-Din Road, east of Rafah.
- At approximately 7:18 am on Friday, 10 May 2024, one Palestinian was killed and his son was injured in an artillery shelling in Al-Roz Street in Tal Al-Zohour neighborhood in Rafah.
- At 3:40 pm on Saturday, 11 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes targeted a tin house belonging to the Hashash family in the Hashash neighborhood northwest of Rafah city. The attack killed nine residents, including five women and three children, two of whom were infants, and others were injured with various wounds.
- Around 5:27 pm, on 11 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes targeted a civilian vehicle in the Al-Salam neighborhood south of Rafah city, killing three of its passengers, including two from the same family.
- At approximately 6:30 pm, on 11 May 2024, an Israeli airstrike targeted a group of residents in the Al-Salam neighborhood south of Rafah city, killing four Palestinians, including two brothers.
Khan Younis:
- On Friday morning, 10 May 2024, eight members of the Qdeih family were killed by Israeli shelling in the town of Abasan Al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, during a ground invasion. Later that day, Israeli airstrikes targeted a house in Qizan Al-Najjar, south of Khan Younis.
Middle Area:
- On Friday, 10 May, Israeli airstrikes struck two houses in Al-Nusairat refugee camp: one belonging to the Abu Mallouh family, resulting in one Palestinian killed and 10 others injured, and the other belonging to the Nabhan family, where a woman was killed and four others were injured.
- On Friday evening, 10 May, Israeli airstrikes targeted a residential square of Al-Nimer and Al-Ashqar families in the Al-Nusairat refugee camp, killing 10 Palestinians and injuring 40 others.
- Around 1:40 am on Saturday, 11 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes struck the house of the Al-Khatib family in Al-Zawaida, killing nine Palestinians, including five children and three women.
Northern Gaza:
- Between 10-11 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes targeted at least seven houses in Al-Sabra, Al-Zaytoun neighborhoods, as well as in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, resulting in multiple killings and injuries. Among those killed were the journalist Baha Okasha, along with his wife and son.
- On the evening of Saturday, 11 May, Israeli forces began a wide-scale ground invasion on Jabaliya and its refugee camp, following hours of issuing evacuation orders for residents and displaced people amidst intensive shelling and bombardment that targeted many homes and streets. The airstrikes resulted in an initial toll of 12 Palestinians killed.
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