The number of victims of Israel’s merciless bombing of Gaza reached 90 fatalities as of July 10, with several members of individual families among the dead.
One such family is that of 75-year-old Muhammad Hamad of the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun. Six members of his family were killed when Israel bombed the home of his 30-year-old son Abd al-Hafez Hamad, a commander with the armed group Islamic Jihad, on July 8.
“The missile fell on my family with no warning,” he told the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. “I assume they wanted to hit Abd al-Hafez, but what did the rest of the family do wrong? Why did they kill an entire family?”
There is no safe refuge in the Gaza Strip, and no escape for its more than 1.7 million residents.
Defence for Children International Palestine reported on July 10 that at least 18 children were confirmed to have been killed in Gaza since July 7: “Aseel Ibrahim Fayek al-Masri, 16, whose 14-year-old brother died in an attack on the family home in Beit Hanoun on Wednesday, died after sustaining injuries in the same incident.
“Suleiman Salim Mousa al-Astal, 17, and Mousa Mohammad Taher al-Astal, 14, were killed after being hit by a missile as they sat watching the World Cup with friends on the beach overnight on Thursday.
“The two boys were among eight reported fatalities after an Israeli aircraft bombed the crowd of people watching the football game.
“Abdullah Ramadan Jamil Abu Ghazal, 4, was with his mother in their home when he was hit by shrapnel fragments from an Israeli missile that exploded nearby. Abdullah died instantly when he sustained head injuries.”
The United Nations stated in a July 9 report that “the targeting and destruction of residential properties in Gaza is the main cause of civilian casualties”.
Six children were among eight killed on Tuesday when a missile struck the home of an alleged Hamas activist in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Five families reside in the building bombed by the Israeli military, which claims that the home was the residence of Hamas commander Odeh Kaware.
As the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights stated on July 10, a home cannot be classified as a military target because it is owned by a fighter. The lack of secondary explosions in homes targeted by Israel gives the lie to Israel’s claim that the houses were used for weapons storage.
The rights group says the houses are being destroyed as a punitive measure targeting members of armed groups in Gaza and their families.
[Abridged from Electronic Intifada.]