The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) killing of Palestinians in airstrikes and gunfire in the Gaza Strip, despite the ceasefire. IOF targeted civil police officers deployed to secure the entry of aid trucks and protect them from armed aid-hijacking gangs, who operate under the direct protection of IOF. These gangs continue their attempts to loot aid trucks and obstruct their entry, similar to actions taken repeatedly during Israel’s military assault on Gaza over the past months.
According to information collected by PCHR’s field researchers, at around 09:10 on Sunday, 17 February 2025, an Israeli drone targeted police officers and committees responsible for securing aid and commercial trucks on al-Matar Street in al-Shokah village, eastern Rafah, while the latter were chasing an individual suspected of looting the trucks. The airstrike killed 3 police officers and wounded others.
During the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, IOF have deliberately targeted and destroyed all police stations and headquarters, killing hundreds of police officers and leaders. PCHR has also documented Israeli forces targeting security teams accompanying humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza, further exacerbating chaos, crime, and the humanitarian crisis—integral to the genocidal strategy aimed at subjecting Palestinians to living conditions intended for their complete or partial destruction.
Since the announcement of the ceasefire, PCHR’s field researchers have documented dozens of airstrikes and shooting incidents by IOF, who are still deployed inside the Gaza Strip, particularly along the Palestinian-Egyptian borders in southern Rafah and along the eastern Gaza Strip borders. These attacks have killed and injured dozens of Palestinians while trying to check on their houses and agricultural lands. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, since the ceasefire entered into force last 19 January, IOF have killed 106 Palestinians and injured 959 others.
Israel is still imposing restrictions on the amount and type of aid and commodities entering the Gaza Strip, including the obstruction and prevention of mobile homes and reconstruction materials in addition to tens of types of essential commodities urgently needed after more than 16 months of genocidal war. Moreover, the entry of medical devices and hospital equipment remain restricted, as well as heavy machinery needed to clear rubble and recover victims’ bodies.
PCHR condemns the killing of civilians, including police officers, and calls upon the international community to scale up efforts to ensure a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza strip, including protecting civilians and alleviate the devastating impact of the genocide committed against them.
PCHR calls for the immediate lifting of the siege, ensuring the uninterrupted entry of humanitarian aid, essential devices, equipment and goods to meet the needs of over 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, who have suffered from starvation and a lack of basic services for months and are now in desperate need for urgent and adequate shelter.
PCHR also urges the international community to adhere to the provisions of international criminal law and principles of global justice and take decisive action to hold Israel, its leaders and those responsible for committing grave international crimes against the Palestinian people accountable and to bring them to justice before international and national courts. PCHR warns that Inaction in this regard encourages impunity and undermines the rule of law worldwide.
