Rights body details harrowing tale of Israeli field executions, starvation, ethnic cleansing in N Gaza

A major European rights body recounts in harrowing detail the atrocities that have been carried out for the past 43 days by the Israeli regime against Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip.

Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor provided the information in a report on Monday.

The report showed how the Israeli military has been subjecting the Gazans to direct killings, extrajudicial executions, mass starvation, and ethnic cleansing “with no justification whatsoever” as part of its now-13-month-old genocidal war on the coastal sliver.

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Israeli forces, the report noted, have been committing the crimes by bombing homes with residents inside, committing mass killings against displaced civilians in shelters, and targeting gatherings and vehicles.

‘Largest campaign of forced displacement in modern history’

The forces have also embarked on bringing about “the largest cases of forced displacement in modern history” against the targeted civilians, it said.

The period in question, throughout which the Israeli military has markedly intensified its deadly aggression against northern Gaza, has seen it “conducting its third incursion and military offensive” against the targeted areas and “committing heinous atrocities,” the body stated.

The combined killing and displacement routine was being carried out with the aim of “terrorizing civilians” among other things, it said.

‘They executed them in front of me’

The body cited Tamam Abdel Maqadmeh, one of the civilians, as describing some of the atrocities that the forces committed in the city of Beit Lahia.

“Conditions worsened in al-Shemaa Street, Beit Lahia, due to heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. As a result, we moved from our home near al-Shemaa Clinic to the Abbas Kilani area in the middle of al-Shemaa Street,” he said.

“On Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces began advancing into the area where we were sheltering. We stayed trapped in the house, and less than two hours later, the forces blew open the door and stormed the building,” Maqadmeh added.

“When we descended to the ground floor [on the forces’ orders], I found my brother-in-law Khaled lying dead with two gunshots to his abdomen, blood streaming from him. His eldest son, Ibrahim (21), had been shot in the head. I stood in shock for moments before a soldier threatened me to move or be shot. We were about 26 people in total.”

He noted how her sister was prevented by the invading troops from saying goodbye to her husband and son, and would keep crying, “They executed them in front of me” as Maqdameh and others would try to pull her away.

“They killed them without them moving a muscle,” he added, describing the manner of the victims’ execution.

“This happened in front of the small children—four boys and four girls—who witnessed their father and brother executed before their eyes,” Maqdameh’s sister said.

According to Euro-Med, the Israeli military has, meanwhile, been preventing civil defense and medical teams from accessing the victims, including those who have been buried under the rubble in northern Gaza, for the past 25 days.

‘Shot dead while trying to retrieve food’

Beit Lahia has turned into a specific target of the campaign for the past 10 days, with the forces pushing some 5,000 civilians there into various gathering points, and targeting those who would try to return to their homes to retrieve direly-needed food, which is unavailable at the gathering sites.

“Dozens who attempted to do so (bring back food) have not returned, as they were executed in the streets,” said a civilian.

Another described the condition, in which he had found one of the victims, who had tried to return with some food.

“Beside one of the victims, there was a bag of flour. It seems he had successfully retrieved it from his home, but the Israeli army shot him as he was returning to the shelter.”

“Any food we manage to secure from nearby homes is distributed primarily to children, followed by the elderly in smaller portions. Young adults receive, at best, a single loaf of bread per day,” he said of the dire nutritional conditions at the gathering locations.

The rights body, meanwhile, denounced the international community’s reluctance to take decisive action against the Israeli regime, which has claimed the lives of more than 43,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, during its October 2023-present genocidal war on Gaza.

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The inaction “makes it (the international community) complicit in these crimes and grants Israel a green light to escalate its genocide. This also reflects a shocking disregard for the lives and dignity of Palestinians,” it lamented.

“The international system, including the International Criminal Court, the European Union, and various United Nations bodies, has collectively failed to achieve the fundamental goals and principles upon which they were founded.”

Throughout the course of the war, the institutions have “demonstrated a disgraceful failure to protect civilians and halt the genocide Israel is perpetrating against Palestinians in Gaza, a duty that lies at the core of their mission and existence,” Euro-Med said.

It called for various punitive measures against the regime, including “a comprehensive arms embargo,” and holding it accountable for all of its crimes.

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