Gaza Field Updates: 13-19 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 79,000 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.

Our organizations are closely monitoring the ongoing escalation of Israeli attacks on northern Gaza. This escalation includes increased targeting of homes, mass killings of civilians, including journalists, and new displacement orders against the population. Notably, this escalation coincided with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearings on 16 and 17 May 2024, during which South Africa requested the Court to order Israel to immediately halt its military operations throughout Gaza.

Here’s a roundup of significant developments in the occupied Gaza Strip between 13 and 19 May 2024:¹

Sunday, 19 May 2024: At dawn, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential block in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in the Middle Gaza District, killing 20 Palestinians and injuring others. Israeli warplanes also bombed a school sheltering displaced persons in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, causing several deaths and injuries.

Saturday, 18 May 2024: 40 Palestinians were killed, including 10 women and 10 children, and more than 100 injured individuals arrived at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya as a result of several airstrikes carried out by Israeli warplanes. The incidents occurred as follows:

• At approximately 11:00 am, Israeli warplanes targeted a gathering of people in front of Abu Khalil School, a UNRWA school housing displaced people, in the centre of the Jabaliya refugee camp. This attack resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.
• At around 2:00 pm, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential block belonging to the Silawi family, behind Abu Hussein School in the Jabaliya refugee camp, south of Kamal Adwan Hospital, causing dozens of deaths and injuries.
• Dozens of people were killed and injured when Israeli tanks fired several shells at civilian gatherings as they tried to obtain drinking water in the Al-Falouja area, west of the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Our researchers confirm that there is a large number of dead bodies in the streets of Jabaliya and its refugee camp, as medical and civil defence teams have not been able to retrieve them due to the intense Israeli bombardment, which has destroyed dozens of homes and buildings. This is in addition to the ongoing Israeli ground invasion in the area since the evening of last Saturday, 11 May, following Israeli evacuation orders issued to displace residents and displaced people there.

Thursday, 16 May 2024:

• At approximately 4:00 am, Israeli airstrikes targeted an apartment of the Jahjouh family in a five-story building in the Al-Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, without prior warning. The attack resulted in the killing of six residents, including two women and two children. Among the victims was journalist Mahmoud Jahjouh, a photographer at the Palestine Post website.
• At approximately 7:00 pm, Israeli air and artillery strikes targeted the market in the Jabaliya refugee camp, causing massive destruction in the market area.

Wednesday, 15 May 2014:

• The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders instructing residents in the neighbourhoods of Al-Mansheya in Beit Lahiya and Al-Sheikh Zayed in northern Gaza, in blocks 1778, 1762, 1763, 1764, 1765, 1774, 1770, 1768, and 1769, to immediately evacuate to western Gaza City.
• At approximately 1:00 am, Israeli airstrikes struck a house belonging to the Abu Al-Husna family in Jabaliya, northern Gaza. The two-story house was destroyed, and four civilians were killed in the attack: the elderly Ezzedine Mohammed Abu Al-Husna, aged 80, his son Mamdouh, aged 45, a lawyer and university professor, his grandchildren Hamdi, 17, and Youssef, 12. Other individuals were trapped under the rubble.
• At approximately 5:00 am, Israeli warplanes fired several missiles at the Al-Sabra Clinic,  located in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood, south of Gaza City, while dozens of displaced persons were inside, some of whom were performing the dawn prayer. The attack resulted in the destruction of the four-story building hosting the clinic. This attack killed 25 civilians and dozens of others were injured. The airstrike came one day after Israeli forces invaded the area and demolished the clinic’s outer wall.

Regarding the incident, Ghassan Mohammed Al-Daour, 45 years old, said: 

“There were more than 200 displaced people in the Al-Sabra Clinic, including myself and several members of my family, including my brother’s wife and her children. We sought refuge in the clinic after our home was destroyed at the beginning of the offensive. At dawn on Wednesday, we were surprised by Israeli warplanes bombing the clinic, which housed only civilian displaced people, most of them children, women, and elderly people. The building collapsed on us. The bombing resulted in approximately 25 deaths and dozens of injuries, most of them severe, with many limbs amputated. My brother’s wife, Rahma Abdelbaset Al-Daour, 40 years old, and her children, Maryam Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Daour, 19 years old, and Nour, 3 years old, were killed. Her other two children, Obaida, 15 years old, and Baraa, 8 years old, were seriously injured and were taken to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City for treatment. It should be noted that the Israeli forces knew we were there, as they had invaded the area the previous day and demolished the clinic’s outer wall without asking us to leave.”

Commenting on the same incident, Mr A.A. reported to our researchers:

“On 10 May 2024, I moved to the Al-Sabra Clinic, located in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, after Israeli forces destroyed my home in the Tal Al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza. There were dozens of displaced civilians inside the clinic, mostly women, children, and elderly people. Everyone believed that staying in the clinic was safer since it was a health clinic belonging to UNRWA. On Tuesday, 14 May 2024, Israeli forces accompanied by tanks invaded the area, bulldozed the clinic’s outer wall, and fired randomly and violently at anyone moving inside the clinic. However, they soon left the area without asking us to leave, giving us a sense that the area was safe. The following dawn, specifically at 5:00 am, while we were praying the dawn prayer inside the clinic, we were surprised by Israeli warplanes bombing the clinic building. Many of the displaced people were either killed or injured. Children and women were screaming in panic and fear. I was injured and taken to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where I am still receiving treatment. I saw dozens of injured people with amputated limbs, some critically injured, and there were numbers of killed people and their bodies were dismembered, including women and children.”

• At approximately 3:30 pm: Israeli airstrikes targeted an internet distribution point, which was a makeshift shack and four tents used for selling internet service on Al-Jalaa Street, Gaza City. About 200 civilians were there, trying to communicate with their displaced relatives in southern Gaza and outside the Strip. The attack killed 25 Palestinians recovered in fragmented remains, and 50 others injured.

Regarding the incident, Mr. Mahmoud Hassan Nassar stated to our researchers:

“I was at the internet distribution and sales point, using electronic SIM due to the internet service disruption caused by Israeli attacks. Suddenly, an Israeli helicopter fired at least two missiles at the location. Around 200 people were there, communicating with their relatives who had been displaced to southern Gaza and outside the Strip. Following the attack, some people were killed, and others were injured. I was among the injured and I’m currently receiving treatment at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.”

• At approximately 4:00 pm, Israeli airstrikes attacked the home of Bassam Salem Jouda, 54, in Jabaliya, destroying the house and killing him and another person. Bassam Salem Jouda was an employee in the civil defence in northern Gaza.
• At approximately 5:00 pm Israeli airstrikes targeted the house of journalist Hayel Al-Najjar, 45, in Jabaliya, leading to the killing of Al-Najjar and five of his family members. The attack also led to the complete destruction of the house. Earlier that week, on Saturday evening, 11 May 2024, Israeli airstrikes targeted the house of journalist Baha Okasha in Jabaliya camp, northern Gaza, killing him, his wife, and their child Hamza, with others missing under the rubble.

Tuesday, 14 May 2024:

• At approximately 11:00 pm, Israeli airstrikes struck a five-storey house in the Al-Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, without prior warning. Around 50 people were inside the house at the time of the bombing. The attack resulted in the destruction of the upper three floors and partial damage to the second and first floors. Five residents of the Abu Zaher family were killed, including a couple and their three children. The wife was six months pregnant, and her fetus was found outside her womb. Additionally, 18 family members were injured, most of them women and children.

Monday, 13 May 2024:

• At approximately 3:00 pm, Israeli airstrikes targeted the house of Mr. Hashem Abdullah Hashem Ghazal, 58, who had a hearing disability, on Yafa Street, in Gaza City. The two-story house was attacked without prior warning. The attack led to the killing of Mr. Ghazal and his wife, Samira Ghabayen, and the injury of six family members, all of whom also had hearing disabilities. Hashem Ghazal was a prominent advocate for people with hearing impairments in Gaza and an official at the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children.

These developments occur amid the ongoing ground invasion on Rafah for the 13th consecutive day, accompanied by relentless aerial and artillery bombardment. Approximately 800,000 residents and displaced persons have fled Rafah over the past two weeks, seeking shelter in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. These areas have become overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people, who lack basic living conditions. Additionally, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Abu Salem commercial crossing with Israel remain closed, further adding to the suffering of the population.

1. The content within this report relies on initial documentation gathered by our organizations—the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and Al-Haq. This information is not comprehensive of all events and attacks and is subject to further verification once our teams can safely operate in the affected areas. ↩︎