The Israeli army has executed dozens of elderly people in Gaza in “direct shooting operations” since October 7, a human rights group said.
In a statement issued on Friday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that “1,049 elderly men and women have been killed so far —about 1% of the estimated 107,000 elderly people who live in the Gaza Strip, and 3.9% of all Palestinian deaths during the aggression.”
“The majority of them were crushed to death under the debris of their homes or the shelter centers where they sought safety after Israeli aircraft bombed their homes, or while being forced to seek basic necessities in the streets and marketplaces. Alarmingly, however, dozens were targeted in killings and field executions,” it said.
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The Geneva-based organization stated that “it had received horrifying testimony regarding killings and field executions of several people over the age of 60.”
“These incidents included soldiers shooting elderly people immediately after ordering them to evacuate their homes, and in some cases, executing them just moments after their release from hours or days of arbitrary detention,” the statement added.
“The elderly are paying a high price for the disproportionate attacks carried out by Israeli forces, as hundreds of them have been killed in Israel’s genocide, and thousands more injured,” the group also stated.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 24, 2023
According to the group, numerous elderly civilians, including both men and women over the age of 70 and even 80 have experienced detention.
“Testimonies from released detainees affirm that they were denied access to treatment and subjected to torture and abuse, regardless of their difficult health situation and/or advanced age,” it added.
According to Euro-Med Monitor, “Israel is waging a campaign of widespread punishment and killing, and oppressing Palestinian society’s most vulnerable groups in a way that is seldom seen in the modern history of wars or armed conflicts.”
#Gaza| Euro-Med Monitor obtained horrific testimonies of Israeli army forces raiding a home in Gaza City. The Israeli forces reportedly opened fire at multiple young men inside the house, for no apparent reason & with no resistance from the victims
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— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) December 24, 2023
The organization “renewed its call on the international community, especially the signatory states to the Geneva Convention, to carry out their responsibilities to provide protection for civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 20,424 Palestinians have been killed, and 54,036 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
