Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has underlined that Israel is directing its assaults towards the Gaza and North Gaza governorates with a systematic campaign of destruction with the intent to displace the population in these areas.
Despite the confirmed obligation of Israel’s army to avoid targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure entirely, Euro-Med Monitor has verified that, in practice, multiple and intricate violations have been committed.
These violations may qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity due to the extensive use of overwhelming firepower against densely populated civilian regions.
Euro-Med Monitor highlighted that these violations encompass a direct assault on several fundamental rights of civilians in the Gaza Strip, with the most prominent being the right to life, the right to housing, and the property right.
Before the current Israeli offensive, they estimated around 260,000 housing units in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Euro-Med Monitor has documented that Israeli airstrikes destroyed or severely damaged approximately 52,000 housing units..
The human rights organization pointed out that more than a quarter of the area in Gaza City and northern Gaza has been affected by this destruction, and 20% of the houses in these areas are no longer suitable for habitation.
The town of Beit Hanoun, located on the outskirts of the northern Gaza Strip, has experienced the most severe damage, with around 60% of its buildings either destroyed or significantly damaged.
According to Euro-Med Monitor’s documentation, a minimum of 4,079 Palestinians have lost their lives, including 1,413 children and 806 women. Among these casualties, about 3,420 were civilians. Moreover, over 15,000 additional Palestinians have suffered injuries in various forms, with over half of them being children and women.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor concluded that Israel is committing complex war crimes in the Gaza Strip. The organisation reiterated that these crimes represent serious violations of international humanitarian law and may amount to war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians.