Human Lives Human Rights: Israel carried out deadly attacks on overcrowded residential areas on third consecutive day, taking the toll to at least 31 people killed since Friday, with at least 260 civilians having been wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
On Friday, an air strike near a mosque in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City killed five-year-old Alaa Qaddoum, a 23-year-old woman and a 75-year-old grandmother.
Palestinian authorities said that 650 housing units had been damaged in the first 24 hours of the Israeli onslaught, which has targeted several residential towers, according to local media.
The Palestinian presidency has condemned the violence in Gaza, calling it dangerous and asking the international community to intervene to prevent escalation.
The Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh blamed Israel for initiating the violence while residents in Ramallah took to the streets in spontaneous protests to call for retaliation.
Tensions had been high in recent months, with Jenin being the main flashpoint as the Israeli forces conducted almost daily raids to the refugee camp.
“Ever since Israel arrested Bassam al-Saadi on Monday, the Islamic Jihad has raised its level of alert, has told all members to gear up to ‘make Israel pay,’ Ibrahim said.
“The Palestinian people are in urgent need of international protection. The Israeli government has increased its attacks and crimes in Palestine, and this isn’t only about a particular faction: their attacks go from human rights organisations to the families of Sheikh Jarrah,” Shehadeh, a lawmaker with the Joint List, said, referring to an area of East Jerusalem where people have been evicted from their homes.
“Who will stop these war crimes? The international community keeps rewarding the Israeli occupation in a way that apartheid gets deeper. But it isn’t irreversible: we shall continue struggling for justice, freedom and equality, which is the only way to achieve a lasting peace.”
