The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the horrific crime committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) this morning in al-Shuja’iyia neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, where they directly bombed a densely populated residential square, killing and injuring dozens of civilians. This brutal crime marks a serious escalation of the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people.
This crime is not a separated incident, but part of an Israeli systematic policy aimed at targeting innocent civilians to inflict maximum casualties, destroy all aspects of life, and forcibly displace residents without providing alternative shelters. This comes amid Israel’s open declaration of plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, coupled with the ongoing silence and failure of the international community to stop the massacre that has been ongoing for 18 months.
According to PCHR’s documentation, at approximately 09:25 on Wednesday, 09 April 2025, the Israeli warplanes targeted Abu ‘’Amsha family house on Baghdad Street in al-Shuja’iyia neighborhood, destroying the house and nearby houses belonging to Abu al-Kas, Qanita, Rajab, and other families. As a result, 29 people, including 14 children and 6 women, were killed, and more than 60 others, including children and women, were injured, while many people remain missing under the rubble Some of them made desperate pleas for help. The rescue operations were carried out with primitive equipment before being halted in the evening, despite confirmed reports that more people remain trapped under the rubble.
At approximately 14:00 on the same day, the IOF’s warplanes launched an airstrike on Abu Ghanima family house in al-Shuja’iyia neighborhood, killing 5 people and injuring others.
It is worth noting that al-Shuja’iyia neighborhood has been under a widescale ground assault by the IOF since the early hours of last Friday. The IOF has intensified its military aggression, accompanied by intense airstrikes and artillery shelling, allegedly to “expand the so-called buffer zone and tighten their grip over the area.”
On the same day, the IOF issued unlawful evacuation orders for residents in al-Shuja’iyia neighborhood, al-Jadida and al-Turkman neighborhoods, and eastern al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. This forced thousands of people to flee on foot towards western Gaza City, while others were forced to evacuate to southern Gaza Strip via al-Rashid Street, facing catastrophic humanitarian conditions and a severe shortage of shelters and healthcare facilities.
In the early hours of Thursday, 03 April 2025, the IOF detonated an explosive-laden robot near a residential square on al-Masroura Street in al-Shuja’iyia neighborhood and then launched successive airstrikes on inhabited houses belonging to Abu Heen, Jundiyia, and al-Sersawi families. As a result, 31 people, including 15 children and 5 women, were killed, while dozens more sustained various injuries.
PCHR reaffirms that the ongoing and daily escalating expansion of this Israeli military aggression, amid the international community’s silence and inaction, is a disgrace to all states and organizations that continue to turn a blind eye or justify this genocide. This silence underscores the urgent need for immediate international intervention to put an end to the IOF’s systematic crimes and violations committed against the Palestinian people.
In line with its responsibilities, PCHR calls on the international community to take decisive and urgent measures to stop the ongoing genocide and hold the Israeli leaders accountable for their atrocious crimes before the international justice. PCHR also urges the State Parties to the Genocide Convention to fulfil their legal obligations and take urgent action to protect the Palestinian civilians from the genocide, mass killings and grave human rights violations.
