The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the escalating Israeli military aggression against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, which has reached a new and unprecedented level of brutality after the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched widescale attacks as a prelude to further expand their aggression. These actions reflect Israel’s insistence on continuing the crime of genocide.
According to our staff’s monitoring, the last three days have seen a marked escalation in IOF’s use of excessive force, including intensified air strikes, fire belts, and direct targeting of homes and tents on top of their residents. As a result, hundreds of civilians, including women and children have been killed and injured.
This escalation comes as IOF announced on the evening of Friday, 16 May 2025, the launch of widescale attacks and deployment of forces to seize more areas in the Gaza Strip, as part of what they called the “initial stage of the Operation Gideon Chariots1,” under the pretext of achieving all the goals of the unabated war ongoing for 20 consecutive months
This announcement is clear evidence of Israel’s intent to continue destroying Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and further annihilating its civilian population, as part of a systematic and full-fledged crime of genocide being committed under the full view of the world.
According to our researchers’ field documentation, in the early hours of Wednesday, 15 May 2025, the IOF began expanding their military aggression in northern Gaza Strip, invading several residential areas to which civilians had returned following the ceasefire unilaterally ended by Israel on 18 March 2025.
The IOF’s ground invasion was concentrated in al-Salateen, al-‘Amoudi, and al-Wahah areas, and in Um al-Naseer Bedouin village in Beit Hanoun, as well as in the northern outskirts of Beir al-Na’jah area in Jabalia. The IOF’s ground invasion was accompanied by intense airstrikes heavily pounding these areas along with heavy gunfire from quadcopter drones. Israeli warplanes targeted many houses and displaced people’s tents while their residents were inside. As a result, 25 people were killed on Thursday, 15 May 2025, while 71 others were killed the next day. Additionally, 10 people were killed on Saturday, 16 May 2025, while 15 others were killed by the morning of Sunday, 18 May 2025. Most of those killed were women and children, who were transported to the al-‘Awda and Indonesian Hospitals. Tens remain trapped under the rubble and scattered across the streets, as civil defense and medical teams have been unable to retrieve them due to limited resources and the dangerous situation in those areas.
In the early hours of Saturday, 17 May 2025, the Indonesian Governmental Hospital in northern Gaza ceased operations after being besieged and then fired at by quadcopter drones. As a result, the medical and administrative staff, along with patients, were forced to evacuate to Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is not adequately equipped to receive patients due to its buildings having been burned and destroyed in previous attacks by the IOF.
Due to the IOF’s ground invasion into the northern Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of residents have been forcibly displaced using various means of transportation, including trucks, vehicles, and animal-drawn carts, while others fled on foot. They evacuated northern Gaza under heavy fire, with many killed while attempting to flee. Hungry and confused, they wandered in search of a new shelter after being forced to flee once again. Dozens of families also remained in their houses, unable to afford the costs of displacement. Additionally, the psychological impact of displacement forced many families to stay in their houses, as they have lost hope of finding shelter or a safe place, especially since no area across the Gaza Strip has been spared from the IOF’s attacks.
Furthermore, the displaced families headed to Gaza City, which is already overcrowded with displaced people, amid the absence of the bare necessities for survival, including the lack of water, food, and adequate shelters. Hundreds of families are now forced to sleep on the ground or have set up makeshift tents in the middle of public streets.
In parallel with their escalation in northern Gaza, the IOF intensified their attacks across the Gaza Strip. Since Thursday, 15 May 2025, Israeli warplanes have launched intense airstrikes on eastern Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, as well as on al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Younis, forcing most residents of these areas to flee. Additionally, Israeli warplanes bombed many houses on top of their residents, and ambulance crews were unable to reach them. On Saturday morning, the IOF expanded their ground invasion into eastern Deir al-Balah amid intense bombardment, placing anyone moving along Salah al-Din Road, from al-Qarara to northern Deir al-Balah, at risk of being targeted.
In a serious escalation, at approximately 23:20 on Saturday, 17 May 2025, until the following morning, Israeli warplanes targeted many displaced people’s tents and a residential apartment in al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis. As a result, 51 displaced people, including 15 women and 20 children, were killed, while dozens of others sustained various injuries, among them journalist Mohammed al-Khatib. Those killed were from Hijazi, Tubasi, al-Sha’ier, Abu Najah, al-Akhras, and al-Zitani families.
At around 12:00 on Sunday, Israeli warplanes bombed a group of people in al-Ghawafir neighborhood in al-Qarara village, east of Khan Yunis, while they were on their way to bring foodstuff from their houses, from which they had been forcibly displaced. As a result, two brothers ‘Atif (35) and Waleed (29) Ibrahim ‘Abed al-Ghafour were killed, and their uncle was injured.
At approximately 02:00 on Saturday, 17 May 2025, an Israeli drone targeted a tent in the courtyard of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, killing Khalil Ibrahim ‘Abed al-Fattah Abu Shmais (48).
At approximately 15:00 on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted Abu Lebda family house in al-Mahata area in Deir al-Balah while they residents were inside. As a result, 10 people, including 2 women and 7 children, one of them a newborn, were killed, while a child was critically injured.
The IOF’s escalation, mass killings, and the ongoing destruction of healthcare infrastructure, rendering Gaza’s hospitals out of service, are clear evidence of their insistence on implementing a comprehensive extermination strategy against the population of the Gaza Strip.
PCHR asserts that these atrocities are yet another indication that the international community’s silence and complicity have granted the IOF a safe environment for impunity, encouraging them to persist in their repeated crimes against civilians and medical facilities in blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
PCHR calls for urgent and tangible measures to halt the ongoing genocide and ensure accountability for Israeli officials before international courts. It also urges all State Parties to the Genocide Convention to uphold their legal and moral obligations and to take immediate action to protect Palestinian civilians from mass killings and serious human rights violations.
