THE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned an Israeli attack on a wedding celebration in Gaza that killed at least six people, including a five-month-old.
In a statement on Sunday, the Washington-based civil rights group said the bombing highlighted what it described as the ‘complete meaninglessness’ of Israel’s ceasefire commitments and urged President Trump and Muslim-majority countries that helped guarantee the truce to intervene.
‘Bombing a wedding celebration is an act of brutality,’ CAIR said, adding that the attack showed ‘there can be no genuine ceasefire while the Israeli occupation continues to murder people across Gaza with impunity’.
Last Friday, the Israeli army shelled a school being used as a shelter, where displaced Palestinian families had gathered for the wedding.
Gaza’s Civil Defence is still struggling to recover the bodies of Palestinians who have been killed during Israel’s ground operations.
Why are they still struggling? The answer is quite clear: Israel has destroyed the vast majority of municipal capabilities and equipment.
Civil Defence members say they are facing a complex set of factors that complicate the process of retrieving bodies, including the huge amount of rubble from Israeli destruction and the harsh winter conditions.
A statement from Gaza’s interior ministry confirmed that 18 Palestinians have died as a result of the collapse of 46 buildings since the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, which shows the urgent need to carry out reconstruction in Gaza as soon as possible.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians, including a teenage boy, during separate raids in the Jenin governorate in the occupied West Bank, officials say, with security camera footage showing soldiers shooting the victim at a ‘point-blank’ range.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced late on Saturday that Rayyan Abdel Qader, 16, had been fatally shot by Israeli forces storming the town of Qabatiya, while the second victim, 22-year-old Ahmad Zayoud, was killed in Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.
Witnesses said Israeli troops had opened fire directly at Abdel Qader, blocking emergency crews from reaching him, leaving him to bleed until he died.
His body was held by Israeli forces.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Zayoud was shot in the chest. A 15-year-old Palestinian boy sustained injuries to his hand during the incident, the ministry said.
Zayoud’s killing comes about a week after Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old in the town.
Surveillance footage showed Abdel Qader walking towards his home when Israeli forces shot him ‘point-blank’.
