Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have continued to escalate their military attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip, carrying out direct airstrikes and opening fire from military sites and vehicles on populated areas and displacement tents, as part of the ongoing genocidal campaign against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
From 8 to 13 August 2026, field researchers at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documented an escalation in IOF gunfire targeting civilians west of the so-called “Yellow Line,” particularly in displacement camps, alongside incursions by Israeli military vehicles, land-razing operations, and the construction of sand berms. The IOF also continued to carry out airstrikes against Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, including two extrajudicial executions (assassinations) in Gaza City and Khan Younis, as well as an attempted assassination in northern Gaza.
As part of the ongoing airstrikes and extrajudicial executions, at approximately 15:40 on Thursday, 13 August 2026, Israeli warplanes fired at least two missiles at a civilian white Hyundai Tucson traveling along al-Rasheed Street in Sheikh ‘Ejleen area, southwestern Gaza City. The strike killed the vehicle’s driver, Kamal Mahmoud Mahmoud Abu Kmeil (43.) Following the incident, the Ministry of Interior in Gaza mourned Colonel Kamal Abu Kmeil, stating that he had served as Director of the Gaza Governorate Police.
At approximately 14:20 on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted a bicycle ridden by a person in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, killing Huthaifah Khaled Soliman Kaware’a (35) and seriously injuring another passer-by.
At approximately 17:20 on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a person walking near the Western Intersection in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. The strike critically injured him and another, both of whom were transferred to al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City for medical treatment.
At approximately 17:00 on the same day, an Israeli drone targeted people in the Rafah Garage area in central Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. The strike injured two, including a child, who were transferred to Nasser Medical Complex for treatment. The child sustained serious injuries.
Regarding shooting incidents targeting civilians and displacement tents, at approximately 18:30 on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, IOF’s vehicles stationed in an area designated within the “Yellow Line,” northeast of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, opened fire on areas west of the line. As a result, two people who were walking along Salah al-Deen Street were injured and then transferred to al-‘Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp, where doctors described their injuries as moderate.
According to field monitoring, the abovementioned area has been subjected to daily incursions by Israeli military vehicles, accompanied by land-razing operations and the establishment of sand berms, alongside indiscriminate shooting towards areas west of the “Yellow Line.” These attacks have injured several civilians and damaged homes northeast of al-Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps, continuously endangering civilians’ lives.
On Monday morning, 10 August 2026, medical sources announced the death of 12-year-old Saba Na’eem ‘Abdullah al-Hashash, who succumbed to serious injuries she sustained on Saturday, 8 August 2026, when IOF opened fire at displacement tents near al-Iqlimi Park, southwest of al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis.
At approximately 21:30 on Sunday, 9 August 2026, IOF stationed within the “Yellow Line” east of Khan Younis opened fire on neighborhoods west of the Line, killing Ziad Mohammed Khalil Jawadah (62) after he sustained a bullet wound to the chest. In a testimony to PCHR’s field researcher, the victim’s son, Mohammed Ziad Mohammed Jawadah, said that IOF opened fire at his family house in al-Satar al-Sharqi, south of al-Salam Hospital, while he was inside the house with his parents, wife, and siblings, nine people in total. He added: ” IOF were stationed in the Yellow Line area about 100 meters east of our house and opened fire westward, at our house and the displacement tents. I saw my father bleeding from his back after he tried to escape to the adjacent room. My siblings and I carried him out of the house and took him to Nasser Medical Complex, where doctors informed us that he had died. The following day, forensic medicine confirmed that his injury was caused by a bullet that entered his chest and exited through his back. We received his body and buried him in the Yemeni Cemetery behind the Austrian Towers.”
At approximately 17:40 on Saturday, 8 August 2026, Israeli soldiers stationed within the “Yellow Line” area opened fire at displacement tents, west of Khan Younis, injuring five people, including a woman and two girls. Their injuries were reported as serious.
One of the injured people, ‘Othman Shakib al-Agha, told PCHR’s field researcher: “I was preparing a place near my destroyed house in al-Satar al-Gharbi, accompanied by three relatives, including two children. I heard shooting coming from the east, where the “Yellow Line” areas are located and where IOF are stationed, more than one and a half kilometers away from us. The shooting continued for about 10 minutes. I lay down on a mattress on the ground when suddenly I felt something hit my left thigh, causing severe pain. When I looked at the injured part, I saw blood streaming from it. I shouted to those with me to call an ambulance. I was then transferred to Nasser Medical Complex, where a metal fixation plate was implanted in my left thigh. I remained there for three days before being discharged to the displacement area where I am staying near Asdaa’ area, northwest of al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis.”
At approximately 18:45 on Saturday, 8 August 2026, Muhannad Jamal ‘Abdullah Ghayyad (31) arrived at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah dead on arrival after sustaining a bullet wound to the head while walking on one of the streets in the Abu al-‘Ajeen area, southeast of Deir al-Balah. According to available field information, Ghayyad was shot in a location around 700 meters away from the “Yellow Line” imposed by IOF. Given the nature of the area and the location where IOF are stationed within the line, the available information indicates that the gunfire was likely fired by IOF stationed in the area.
At approximately 14:00 on the same day, Ghaith Mohammed Dader (4) arrived at al-Ahli Arab Hospital (known as the Baptist Hospital) in Gaza City injured by a bullet shrapnel in his head. His injury was reported moderate. According to available information, the child was near his family’s tent on Yafa Street in the al-Tuffah neighborhood, northeast of Gaza City, when IOF stationed within the “Yellow Line” opened indiscriminate fire on areas west of the line.
This comes amid increasingly rapid IOF movements in several areas across the Gaza Strip, including widespread and recurrent incursions into the Abu al-‘Ajeen area, near the Abu Mary Intersection and Talet Abu Hamam, southeast, east, and northeast of Deir al-Balah, as well as areas east of the al-Zaytoun and al-Tuffah neighborhoods, east and northeast of Gaza City, and several areas in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. During these incursions, IOF carry out indiscriminate shootings targeting civilians and homes west and south of the “Yellow Line,” in addition to demolishing the remaining buildings and infrastructure within the area.
PCHR emphasizes that the IOF’s continued shooting targeting civilians, displacement tents, and residential areas west of the “Yellow Line,” alongside incursions, land-razing operations, and the establishment of sand berms, constitutes a pattern of attacks that endangers civilian lives and imposes a coercive security and military reality on them, amid the absence of any safe area anywhere in the Gaza Strip.
PCHR calls on the international community to take immediate and effective action to halt Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip, ensure the protection of civilians, and end killings, attacks, destruction, and forced displacement. PCHR further calls for accountability for international crimes committed against Palestinians and for the adoption of all necessary measures to hold perpetrators accountable, thereby ending the impunity afforded to the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
