In a serious escalation in the pace of killing and bombardment, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have intensified their attacks on the tents sheltering displaced persons over the past few hours in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Over the past two days alone, IOF targeted more than 15 tents in the al-Mawasi area, designated by IOF as “a safe humanitarian zone.” These attacks occurred in parallel with a renewed wave of displacement targeting several residential blocks in Khan Younis, forcing thousands of civilians to evacuate once again to the al-Mawasi – an area that is already overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who had previously fled death.
The same scenario continues to repeat itself: IOF issue mass evacuation orders, forcing civilians to flee under bombardment in a desperate search for a temporary shelter within the most densely populated and limited geographic area on earth. These areas are then targeted with intense and destructive firepower, in a pattern that reveals a clear intent by the IOF to destroy and commit mass killings. This further proves that killing civilians is not a result of collateral errors, but part of a systematic policy aimed at inflicting the highest possible death toll among Palestinians and eliminating any possibility for survival or life. These acts fall within a broader crime of genocide that has remained unabated for over 21 months.
Through bombardment and evacuation orders, IOF have pushed civilians into less than 15% of Gaza’s total area, subjecting them to unprecedented levels of starvation and mercilessly committing killings against them. This escalation has unfolded as Israel exploits ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Washington and Doha to cover the most dangerous and extensive wave of attacks since October 2023.
Among the most prominent incidents monitored by our staff, on Thursday morning, 10 July 2025, IOF expanded their ground offensive on Khan Younis advancing into the Graves area in al-Namsawi neighborhood and toward the outskirts of displacement camps to the West under gunfire and shelling. As a result, dozens were injured, and thousands were forcibly displaced once again from the western camp and neighborhoods of al-Mawasi to other areas.
At around 23:45 on Wednesday, 09 July 2025, Israeli warplanes targeted a tent sheltering displaced persons in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, killing five, including 2 children, and injuring others. PCHR has documented and kept their names.
On the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted at least 3 more tents in Al-Mawasi Khan Younis. As a result, 14 persons were killed, including 8 women. PCHR keeps their names.
On Tuesday, 08 July 2025, PCHR’s staff documented Israeli airstrikes on 8 tents for displaced persons in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. As a result, 48 persons were killed, including 12 women, 17 children and 5 elderlies. The strikes occurred as follows:
At around 01:30 on Tuesday, an Israeli helicopter targeted a tent sheltering displaced persons, northwest of Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. As a result, a entire family of four was killed, including 2 children, and the victims were identified as Mohammed Zaki al-Bayouk (40), his wife Samah Sa’id ‘Abdullah al-Bayouk (33) and their children, ‘Odah (8) and Misk (6). Also, several others were injured.
At around 08:20, Israeli warplanes targeted a tent for displaced persons in the vicinity of Naser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. As a result, ‘Aisha Mahmoud ‘Othman al-Ghalban and her son Muhsen Saleh Hamdan al-Ghalban were killed, while several others sustained various injuries.
At around 10:15, an Israeli drone targeted a tent for displaced civilians in Al-Mawasi, western Khan Younis, killing eight of them, including 2 elderlies, a woman, 2 children and 3 workers in a field kitchen called “Merciful toward One Another”, and injuring more. The victims were identified as ‘Abdel Ra’ouf Yousif ‘Abdel Majeed Abu Tabbanah (78), Rola Mahmoud Mesleh (3), Shaker ‘Issam Shaker aal-Jbour (14), Dalal Shawki Mahdi al-Qadi (43), Shawki Mahdi Hamdan al-Qadi (67) and the kitchen field workers: Yousif ‘Omar Farraj Abu Mur (36), ‘Eyadi Amin ‘Eyadi Sha’ath (35) and Nour al-Deen Mohammed Sha’ath (34), who succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday morning. Moreover, several of the injuries are reported critical, so the death toll is expected to rise.
Hanan ‘Omar Rezeq Abu Tabbanah, born on 22 November 1983, said to PCHR´s field researcher:
” I was in my tent with my children and husband, Mohammed ‘Abdel Raouf Abu Tabbanah (46), and my father-in-law ‘Abdel Ra’ouf Yousif Abu Tabbanah (75) when suddenly I felt intense heat around me and heard a hissing and buzzing sound in my ear like a stove exploded in the nearby tent of my husband’s brother, Karam (39). I started screaming, “Help us… help us” as both my husband and father-in-law had been injured. Young men rushed towards us and transferred them to Naser Hospital, and I followed. There, I learnt that my father-in-law passed away, and my husband sustained a shrapnel wound in his neck. Moreover, workers in the kitchen field, which is 3 to 4 meters away from our tent, were wounded as well while three of them were killed in addition to others from our neighbors. It should be noted that since the Israeli offensive on Rafah, we have been forced to flee repeatedly: first to Al-Zawayda, then to the Khan Younis camp, and finally to our current location on Al-Nos Street, in the western Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.”
One of the field kitchen workers, Ahmed Samir Hasan ‘Awajah, born on 30 December 1990, said to PCHR’s field researcher:
” While I was working in the ” Merciful toward One Another” field kitchen in al-Farouq camp, where I am currently displaced. I was with Nour Sha’ath (34), Yousif Abu Mur (36), ‘Eyadi Sha’ath (35), Abu Hasan Abu Khatlah, ‘Alaa Abu Mur and ‘Abdel Rahman Siyam preparing rice meals when suddenly a nearby explosion occurred. Shrapnel scattered all over and smoke filled the area amid the screams of women and children. I felt sharp pain in my right hand and leg, and when I looked down, I found them bleeding, so I realized I had been injured. I walked towards the Kuwaiti Hospital, which is only 500 meters away from us. From there, I was referred to Naser Hospital along with other injured persons. I was informed that my colleagues, Yousif Abu Mur and ‘Eyadi Sha’ath were killed along with several other displaced persons.”
At approximately 10:30, an Israeli warplane launched an airstrike on a tent sheltering displaced people in al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis. As a result, 8 displaced people were killed, including two children, a woman, and five former detainees had been deported from the West Bank to Gaza Strip. Also, dozens more were injured. Those killed were identified as: Hala ‘Abed Rabbu ‘Abed al-Kareem al-Reqib (39), Yaman Salah ‘Atiyah Barhoum (3), Sondos Ahmed Yousef Abu Radi (7), as well as the former detainees Naji Mohammed Salem ‘Obayaat (52), Amjad Ahmed Mahmoud ‘Arqoub (42), Belal Isma’il Mohammed Zare’ (44), Riyad Zakaria Khalil ‘Asaliyia (52), and Mahmoud ‘Abdullah ‘Abed al-Rahman Abu Sariyia (48).
At around 13:40, an Israeli drone targeted a tent for displaced people near al-Hedaya Mosque in Mawasi al-Satar, northwest of al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis. As a result, 8 displaced people were killed, including a mother, her son, her daughter, and the latter’s four children. Those killed were identified as: Sanaa Ayoub Musbah Mansour (64), her children Yousef (29), Ibrahim (30), and Shireen Ra’fat Mahmoud Mansour (35), as well as Shireen’s children Hala (16), Dina (14), Esmat (9), and Riylan Mohammed Mahmoud Ghanem (7 months old).
At approximately 15:00, an Israeli drone launched an airstrike on a tent for displaced people in northwest of al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis, killing parents and their child. Those killed were identified as: Hasan Na’eem Hasan al-Astal (35), his wife Baraa’ Nour al-Deen Mohammed al-Astal (28), and their child Majed (5 months old).
At approximately 22:35, an Israeli drone targeted a tent for displaced people near al-‘Attar area, southwest of al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis. As a result, 14 displaced people, including 6 children and 5 women, were killed. Among those killed were parents and their children, and three other people from nearby tents. Those killed were identified as: Mohammed Sha’ban Zaki Sha’ban (43); his wife, Heba Ghazi Hasan Sha’ban (37); their three children Mo’tasem Bellah (9), Ro’a (12), and Sewar (10); Hedaya As’ad Zaki Sha’ban (31); Eman ‘Awni Mostafa Sha’ban (23); the two siblings Mohammed (22) and Riman (14) Ramzi Diyab Sha’ban; ‘Abdullah Mohammed Mansour Rashwan (67); Hend Mansour Mohammed Mansour (39); Maha Mohammed Fawzi Abu Mostafa (8); and Nour ‘Abed al-Khaleq al-Farra (17). Also, many others sustained various injuries.
The only survivor from Mohammed Zaki Sha’ban’s family members, child Karam Mohammed Zaku Sha’ban, who was born on 03 July 2011, said to PCHR’s researcher:
“It was our routine to go to bed early after the Isha prayer. At around 22::35, I woke up terrified by the sound of screams from women and men, with dust and smoke filling the air. I saw small flames that were quickly extinguished. I woke up to witness horrific scenes. There was blood everywhere. I saw my cousin Mohammad Ramzi Sha’ban with his brain exposed, and Hedaya Asa’ad Sha’ban with her facial skin totally ripped off. My uncles and relatives transported them to a civilian vehicle before the ambulances arrived. The rest of those killed and injured were transported to Nasser Medical Complex, where I learned that my father, mother, and siblings had been killed, and I was the only survivor. My family and I went to sleep alive, and I woke up alone, without a family.”
These crimes occur within a recurring pattern employed by the IOF since the onset of their ongoing military aggression on the Gaza Strip. This pattern involves issuing forced displacement orders to residents compelling them to evacuate their original homes and relocating to already overcrowded areas that lack basic humanitarian necessities. These areas are then subjected to intense bombardment in conditions offering no protection whatsoever and turning them into a scene of bloodshed and non-stop tragedies.
The bombing of displaced people’s tents in al-Mawasi area coincided with a serious Israeli escalation, which included the issuance of new evacuation orders for several residential blocks in Khan Yunis. At noon on Tuesday, the IOF issued evacuation orders to residents of nine blocks in Khan Yunis refugee camp, ordering them to move to al-Mawasi area.1 This forced tens of thousands of civilians an already overcrowded and underserviced space, where they find nothing but torn tents, hunger, dehydration, and disease, only to become direct targets of the IOF’s fire. This deliberate sequence of events, starting with forced displacement, followed by confining the population to a limited area, and culminating in killing, clearly reveals an genocidal intent and a strategy of complete destruction.
What is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, particularly during this phase of the military aggression, constitutes an accelerated and deliberate implementation of the crime of genocide against the Palestinian civilian population. The IOF not only kill thousands but also persist in targeting women, children, and entire families, continue carrying out mass killings, and eliminate any prospects for life for those who remain. This is carried out through the systematic destruction of infrastructure; the targeting of shelters, hospitals, and displacement centers; the starvation of the population; the obstruction of humanitarian aid entry; and the imposition of catastrophic conditions that make life in Gaza intolerable and turn it into an uninhabitable and unlivable zone.
While documenting these newly committed crimes, PCHR reaffirms that what is going on in the Gaza Strip constitutes the crime of the century and a stain on the conscience of humanity. This stain can only be vanished by holding the perpetrators accountable, immediately halting the genocide and ensuring international protection for Palestinian civilians.
PCHR emphasizes that the international community’s silence and inaction in the face of these horrific crimes no longer constitute mere indirect complicity, but rather actual partnership in the continuation of the genocide. Turning a blind eye to the crime of genocide and failing to take serious action to stop it entrenches the culture of impunity and threatens what remains of the international legal system and human justice.
Therefore, PCHR reiterates its call on the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions, to urgently intervene to put an end to these atrocities, ensure immediate protection for civilians in the Gaza Strip, and end the culture of impunity fueled by double standards and international complicity.
