By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The Israeli army also bombed civil defense personnel in shelters; most of them volunteers who helped with organizing the distribution of aid to the displaced

Israel has bombed 126 shelters housing displaced Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip since October 7, killing at least 851 civilians, most of them women and children, according to a Palestinian human rights organization.

“The Israeli occupation army has deliberately bombed schools used as shelters with large bombs in a clear and blatant challenge to the basic principles of international humanitarian law,” the Al-Dameer Foundation for Human Rights said in a statement, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported.

The Israeli army also bombed civil defense personnel in shelters; most of them volunteers who helped with organizing the distribution of aid to the displaced, the report said.

Ongoing Genocide – Israeli Strikes on School, Field Hospital Leave Scores Dead, Wounded

The rights group stressed that targeting shelters is a systematic policy that reflects an official government policy and instructions from the Israeli political level – considered a war crime according to the Rome Statute, it added.

International Law

Al-Dameer called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to stop the crime of genocide, impose a ceasefire in Gaza, and ensure Israel’s compliance with the rules of international law and the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s interim rulings to prevent the commission of the crime of genocide.

According to UNRWA, close to 200 of its workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, and “nearly 190 installations have been damaged or destroyed.”

The agency has repeated calls for an independent investigation into attacks on its premises in the besieged enclave.

‘Grim Milestone’ – Nearly 200 UNRWA Workers Killed by Israel in Gaza

Staggering Death Toll

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Israel is currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,363 Palestinians have been killed, and 90,923 wounded in the ongoing genocide. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Genocide Continues – Civilian Casualties and Forced Displacements in Gaza

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, MEMO)