Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, December 27, 2020
Three Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded and many civilian buildings were damaged due to IOF air strikes in a densely populated area in Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City.
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 00:40 on Saturday, 26 December 2020, Israeli warplanes fired 5 missiles at an empty land near a residential compound on Salah al-Din Street, east of Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. As a result, 3 civilians, including a child, sustained wounds as the windows shattered. The wounded were: Yasmeen Mohammed Yehia al-Ashqar (6), Hani Mahdi Rasheed Hajjaj (55) and ‘Emad Khamis ‘Ali al-Haddad (32).
The IOF air strikes caused varying damage to many facilities and civilian objects -mostly shattered windows and displaced doors. The damaged establishments include al-Durra Children’s Hospital, a Ministry of Social Development rehabilitation center for persons with disabilities, Shuhada Gaza Elementary School, eastern Gaza Directorate of Education training center, al-Wedad Mosque, Al-Tuffah Club Stadium, and al-Yaziji Group Company for Soft Drinks. It should be noted that the eastern facade of Yaziji Group Company was destroyed, windows were broken, and its tin-plate roof collapsed.
Furthermore, Ramlawi Plastic Company, al-Sawaferi carpentry, Omar al-Shendi’s spare parts shop, the electricity network and many houses sustained severe damage due to the intensive aerial strikes.
The IOF air strikes not only caused material damage, but also caused fear and panic among the civilian residents, especially women and children.
PCHR emphasizes that the continued Israeli attacks on populated residential areas and the use of weapons on the basis of collective reprisals constitute grave violations of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, amounting to war crimes.
PCHR calls upon the international community to immediately intervene to stop Israel’s crimes and reiterates its call upon the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances and their obligations under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions regarding the guarantee of Palestinian civilians’ right to protection in the oPt.