THE Israeli army carried out a massive, shockingly horrific massacre during its military operation in Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City recently over the course of two weeks.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) has revealed in a statement that the massacre was carried out indiscriminately, targeting and attacking Palestinians regardless of their civilian status, professional standing, gender, age, or health condition.
Though the exact number of casualties from the atrocity is still unknown, preliminary reports suggest that over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, injured, or are reported missing as a result of the massacre at Al-Shifa, with women and children making up half of the casualties, the statement reads.
Euro-Med was able to confirm from its initial investigation and testimonies that hundreds of dead bodies, including some burned, and others with their heads and limbs severed, have been discovered both inside Al-Shifa Medical Complex and in the hospital’s surrounding area.
The massacre claimed the lives of at least 22 patients who were killed in their hospital beds during the Israeli siege of the Medical Complex, amid the willful deprivation of their access to food, medical care, and supplies.
Israel’s army also purposefully prevented relief teams and representatives of international organisations from entering Al-Shifa to carry out humanitarian missions or evacuations, plus purposefully clearing the Complex of all working personnel – particularly medical personnel – either by summary execution or forced displacement or arrest.
The whereabouts of some of these individuals are still unknown.
Al-Shifa Medical Complex is currently out of service due to the Israeli army bombing and setting fire to every one of its buildings, including the mortuary and all internal and external courtyards and corridors.
The attack on Al-Shifa Medical Complex is the most visible aspect yet of Israel’s systematic and carefully-crafted plan to destroy and besiege the Gaza Strip’s health sector, bring it to the brink of collapse, and deny the Palestinian population any chance at survival or medical care, or shelter.
The massacre at Al-Shifa Medical Complex involved the systematic and widespread targeting of civilians and civilian objects, i.e. the targeting of what is left of the health system in the Gaza Strip, killing and putting thousands of sick and injured civilians, displaced families, medical teams, and journalists at risk of being directly targeted, depriving the population of its civilian status and severing families from one another.
These crimes are further proof of the genocide that Israel has been committing against the Palestinian people in the Strip for the past six months.
The Israeli army committed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex massacre with the utmost disregard for international humanitarian law, particularly its rules pertaining to distinction, proportionality, and military necessity; respect for the unique protections enjoyed by civilian hospitals and medical teams; protection for civilians; protection for the sick and wounded; and the prohibition against targeting them even if they are military personnel.
As Israel has not yet produced any documentation to justify or validate its massive and dangerous execution of crimes that are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law, all international bodies and institutions present and operating in the Gaza Strip, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, should visit the crime scene, document all forensic evidence associated with it, and gather witness and victim testimonies.
In addition, the relevant local authorities in the Strip must take immediate steps to protect the crime scene, document any related evidence, and take all reasonable precautions to prevent the loss or destruction of this evidence.
Euro-Med called on the international community to act swiftly and forcefully to defend Palestinian civilians against the genocide that Israel has been committing in the Gaza Strip for the past six months.
This action should include safeguarding the ill, injured, displaced, medical personnel, and journalists, as well as applying genuine pressure on Israel to cease its grave crimes in the region, including those committed against medical facilities, as well as its forced displacement and starvation of civilians.
Euro-Med also urged the international community to work together to ensure that Israel complies with international law, and the ruling of the International Court of Justice, and is held responsible for all its crimes, including the massacre conducted in Al-Shifa Medical Complex.
l The Commission of detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society have stated that the Israeli prison administration continues to impose punitive measures on child prisoners, which are no less severe than those imposed on adult prisoners since October 7th.
They are held in bare cells, isolated, and deprived of family visits, while thousands of prisoners continue to be denied family visits.
During a recent visit to one of the child prisoners in Megiddo Prison, it was revealed that the number of child prisoners in Megiddo has reached 94, including 24 children from Gaza, detained in two rooms or cells.
The Commission and the Society emphasised in a joint statement on Monday that the administration of Megiddo Prison deliberately brings in child prisoners for visits with their hands and feet bound and blindfolded.
Upon arrival at the visitation room, their blindfolds are removed, but their hands are still bound in front of them, while their feet remain shackled.
Despite legal demands to remove restraints during visits, the prison administration informed legal teams that these were new procedures.
During a recent visit, a lawyer insisted on the removal of restraints from the child’s hands to allow for easier communication.
This procedure was previously applied by the prison administration to prisoners classified as ‘dangerous’.
The Israeli prison administration intensifies isolation through depriving prisoners of basic means of communication, such as radios and televisions, causing them to lose track of time and even the date.
According to a visit with one child, they only knew the beginning of Ramadan from new prisoners arriving in the section. They had no way of knowing the time for iftar (breaking the fast) or suhoor (pre-dawn meal) due to the absence of clocks.
They relied on glimpses of sunlight through small windows to determine these times.
They also depended on audio communication with children from Gaza (in nearby cells) to know the iftar time, as one of them would recite the call to prayer when it was time.
Child prisoners face a policy of starvation implemented by the prison administration after October 7th.
The food quality and quantity are poor, mainly consisting of rice.
During Ramadan, child prisoners collect their three meals and divide them for iftar and suhoor according to each cell’s needs, despite being in a growth period and needing adequate nutrition.
One notable measure implemented by the prison administration post-October 7th is cutting off electricity, providing limited lighting for a few hours in the evening, and turning off lights in the section at 10pm.
According to a child prisoner, ‘Our suhoor in Ramadan is in darkness.’
Furthermore, the prison administration confiscated all clothes from prisoners and prohibited them from bringing in new clothes.
This measure affected child prisoners, as they only have the clothes they wear. Their shoes were also confiscated.
Physical assault against prisoners remains a prominent policy post-October 7th, targeting both adult and child prisoners.
The suppression units continue to raid child prisoners’ cells suddenly, subjecting them to further abuse.
It is worth mentioning that the number of child prisoners in Israeli prisons is around 200, including over 40 children under administrative detention, held in Megiddo and Ofer prisons.
The number of arrests among children from the West Bank after October 7th has reached around 500.
In this context, the Commission and the Society have reiterated their demands to international human rights organisations to live up to their responsibilities regarding the violations and crimes against prisoners, especially children, which have escalated unprecedentedly after October 7th.
