07 September 2024

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli genocidal campaign against the Gaza Strip and the airstrike on the apartment of our colleague, Ihab Marwan Kamal Faisal, PCHR’s administrative assistant, destroying it on top of its residents. As a result, Ihab, his wife, and their two daughters were injured and his 2 brothers-in-law were killed, including a child, in Gaza City. This is part of Israel’s ongoing policy of bombing residential houses on top of their residents without prior warning.

According to PCHR’s field documentation, including a statement from our colleague Ihab Faisal, at around 12:10 on Thursday, 05 September 2024, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential apartment in ‘Ajjour building near ‘Abbas Junction in Gaza City, killing two members of Dahdouh family and inflicting moderate injuries to Ihab, his wife, and their two daughters.

Our colleague Ihab Faisal (33) stated to PCHR’s lawyer:

“I was in my bedroom in my apartment on the 4^th floor of Ajjour building at Abbas Junction in Gaza City. Next to me were my daughters, Reem, (6); and Nejma (3), and my wife, Haneen Jamal Dahdouh (29). Suddenly, I heard a strong explosion, and stones and debris of the apartment scattered on us and everywhere, accompanied by smoke and dust filling the room from all directions. I did not know what was going on inside the apartment as the wardrobe and the wall behind collapsed on us while we were lying on the bed. In that moment, I felt something strange in my body as if I were losing consciousness. I could not open my eyes because of the ash and dust, but I fought to stay awake, trying to save my daughters and my wife. We found ourselves lying on the floor, and the bed destroyed. I checked on my wife and my daughters Reem and Najma and realized they had lost consciousness. After a few minutes, neighbors and residents of the building rushed into the apartment and rescued us from the rubble. My daughters Reem and Najma and my wife Haneen were rescued first and taken downstairs. They were then transferred to the new emergency department at Al-Shifa Hospital. After that, I was taken downstairs yet I did not completely lose consciousness and was barely able to move due to the bruises I sustained from the debris and stones. The bodies of my wife’s brothers, who were staying with us, were found afterward: Khalil Dahdouh (20) was found in a plot of land next to the adjacent Bahteeti building as his body had flown there from the force of the explosion while his younger brother, Bashar (17) was retrieved from inside the apartment, his body shredded in pieces and completely burned.”

While we wish our colleague Ihab, his wife, and their daughters, a full recovery and mourn the loss of their beloved ones, we note that Ihab have lost 2 of his brothers, Nour al-Deen (23) and Kamal (34) in a previous airstrike on a hall sheltering displaced people in Nussairat refugee camp on 30 October 2023. Moreover, PCHR has earlier lost two colleagues, lawyer Nour Abu Al-Nour and lawyer Dana Yaghi, alongside their family members in similar Israeli strikes on residential buildings without prior warning. Also, our staff have lost dozens of their relatives, and many have seen their homes destroyed as part of Israel’s widespread destruction policy, targeting roughly 70% of Gaza’s buildings.

These crimes further prove that there is no safe place in the whole Gaza Strip. IOF continue to target the remaining homes where civilians and displaced people have sought refuge, destroying them on top of their residents.

PCHR reiterates its call to the international community, particularly the permanent members of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to take immediate action to stop the genocide in Gaza, hold the perpetrators accountable and protect Palestinian civilians.

PCHR also warns Israel’s partners in this genocide—whether through their unlimited military and political support or their silence- and urge them to fulfill their legal obligations before it is too late.  PCHR calls on them to take tangible steps to protect Palestinian civilians, stop the mass killings, and prevent the ongoing 11-month genocide.