Beth : An Observatory for Human Rights said that the indiscriminate shelling operations carried out by the Israeli forces with their tanks, artillery and warships towards the east and west of the Gaza Strip, during their military operation on Gaza, violate the rules of international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime.

 

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Monitor confirmed in a press release on Friday that the indiscriminate bombing operations carried out during the 11 days of the Israeli military attack. A clear example of a breach of international humanitarian law standards, especially the principles of distinction, proportionality and military necessity.

 

He indicated that his field team had documented the involvement of Israeli artillery in indiscriminate bombing operations, since the first days of the large-scale Israeli operation in Gaza called "The Guardian of the Walls", which began on May 10, 2021, and continued until the announcement of the ceasefire at 2:00 dawn on Friday May 21, 2021.

 

He pointed out that this pattern of bombing by land and sea was complemented by the thousands of intense air strikes carried out by Israeli warplanes, which turned hundreds of homes to rubble, changed the features of many neighborhoods and caused massive damage to the infrastructure.

According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military attack on the Strip in 11 days resulted in death, as the Israeli operation killed 243 Palestinians, including 66 children, 39 women, and 17 elderly, and injured 1910 others, about 60 of them in a state of danger, in addition to causing destruction. And damages of varying degrees to about 10 thousand housing units, and hundreds of economic establishments, and the infrastructure.

 

According to the follow-up, the artillery shelling began a day after the Israeli military attack on the northern Gaza Strip, and focused on the next two days on the Bedouin village, which caused the death of a number of civilians and the injury of others in an infinite outcome, and the displacement of thousands, and then extended to include all the eastern and western sides For the sector from its south to its north.

 

According to testimonies received by the Observatory, in some cases, as happened over the course of 4 hours on the morning of Thursday May 20, 2021, Israeli artillery batteries fired two shells every minute at the eastern areas of the Gaza Strip, some of which fell several kilometers from the separation fence, causing fires and damage. In homes and establishments. The bombing was also repeated, especially at night and dawn hours, causing large explosions that left the population, especially children and women, terrified and terrified.

 

The observatory indicated that the Israeli forces use multiple ammunition in artillery bombardment, some of which are fired by tanks or artillery stationed inside the separation fence, as well as sea boats at sea. Also, some of these shells have great destructive capabilities that penetrate reinforced concrete and explode inside residential homes, and other smoke bombs produce a white smoke screen, and they have a harmful smell that causes congestion, itchy eyes and difficulty breathing.

He stressed that the artillery shells used by the Israeli forces of various kinds aim to inflict harm, in addition to psychological intimidation through the sound of the explosions resulting from them, which did not stop almost throughout the days of the military attack.

The Observatory indicated that the indiscriminate bombing operations involved and resulted in a number of grave violations, most notably as follows:

 

Killings and injuries

The Observatory documented artillery strikes that caused deaths among Palestinian civilians, for example what happened on Thursday May 13, 2021, when artillery shells killed the farmer, Suhaib Abdul Rahim Awad Ghanem, 25, and the farmer, Yahya Mansour Ghaben, 24, was injured. Critically injured, while they were working in agricultural lands in the northern Gaza Strip.

 

Among the most dangerous things documented by the Observatory is what happened the evening of the same day, when Israeli artillery bombed several areas in the northern Gaza Strip, in an organized attack that killed six Palestinians, including a baby, a minor girl and 3 women, and wounding 25 others, including children and women, all of them A resident of the village of Umm Al-Nasr. The dead were: Nisreen Nasser Abu Qleiq (25 years old), Naama Saleh Salama Ayyash (47 years), Hashem Muhammad Ayed al-Zughaib (20 years), Sabreen Nasser Muhammad Abu Dayya (27 years), and the infant Muhammad Salama Muhammad Abu Dayya (10 months). And the girl Fawzia Nasser Muhammad Abu Faris (17 years old).

 

The Observatory documented other incidents, where artillery shells fell on the homes of citizens, penetrated the concrete ceilings and caused multiple injuries, fires and damages, and this was repeated throughout the eastern regions of the Gaza Strip.

Psychological abuse

According to the follow-up of the Euro-Med Monitor, the damage caused by the heavy use of artillery shells was not limited to promising harm, but also caused severe psychological harm, especially for women and children. The Euro-Med Monitor team heard testimonies about the suffering of parents in dealing with their children during the intense and continuous bombing, as this causes a state of great panic, tension, screaming, sleep deprivation, insomnia, and other negative effects.

 

Destruction of civilian objects and installations

As a result of the Israeli artillery shelling, several shells fell on factories and facilities, including: Artillery shells fell on 9 factories and companies operating in the industrial zone east of Gaza City, which led to extensive damage and destruction, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the protection that this area enjoys according to the founding agreements. .

The Israeli artillery shelling on the evening of Thursday, May 20, caused total or partial destruction to 13 factories in the industrial zone, including the "Siskak" factory, the "Coca-Cola" factory, the "Dalloul" factory, and other factories for wood and cleaning materials, and contributed to the expansion and extension of the fire, the ignition of plastic and wood products. Within the targeted factories, what complicated efforts to extinguish them, which lasted for hours on end.

He also documented the targeting of the "Abu Iskandar" factory for the manufacture of plastic, as it was targeted by artillery shells that caused fire inside it to catch tons of production materials and plastic raw materials at dawn on Tuesday, May 18th.

He pointed out that on Monday, May 17, Israeli artillery targeted the "Fomco" sponge factory, east of Jabalia, which led to a huge fire in the factory, which destroyed large parts of it.

On the evening of Thursday, May 20, artillery shelling set fire to several factories in the industrial zone in eastern Gaza.

 

Forced displacement

As a result of the violent and continuous artillery shelling, and the resulting damage and harmful odors, and due to fear of the possibility of shells falling on homes, thousands were forced to flee their homes in the east of the Gaza Strip. The displacement began on May 13, 2021, with the displacement of about 10 thousand citizens on the night of the violent bombing of the Bedouin village, in the north of the Strip, then the pace of displacement escalated with the intensification of the bombing in all the eastern regions of the Strip, and the displacement reached its climax on May 15, which coincided with the 73rd anniversary The Palestinian catastrophe and in the days that followed until today, when the number of forcibly displaced people increased to more than 80 thousand people, of whom nearly 50 thousand were in shelters (UNRWA schools) where they live in extremely difficult conditions and without any adequate support so far.

In view of these data, the Euro-Med Monitor emphasized that the Israeli forces' use of highly destructive and inaccurate missiles in populated, densely populated and indiscriminate areas, crudely violates the principle of distinction that obliges the fighting forces to distinguish between civilians and combatants, and it extends to include civilian objects, i.e. targets that do not apply. It should describe military objectives, something the Israeli forces did by targeting civilians, factories, and homes without any military necessity.

 

The Observatory stressed that the Israeli forces' indiscriminate use of artillery shells against the densely populated Palestinian population may fall within the scope of war crimes, requiring the International Criminal Court to include these violations in its investigation of possible war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

 

He called on the international community to take urgent action to ensure accountability for Israel, justice for the Palestinians, justice for the victims, and to ensure permanent mechanisms to protect Palestinian civilians from the devastating Israeli war machine.

 

And he called for an immediate lifting of the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, and swift work to rebuild homes, facilities and infrastructure destroyed by the Israeli attack.