ISRAEL carried out a wave of new attacks across the Gaza Strip and occupied Jerusalem this week, drawing international condemnation for grave violations of international humanitarian law.
At dawn on Thursday, Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza while ground forces opened heavy fire in Ma’an, Sheikh Nasser, and Jorat al-Lout.
Multiple explosions were also reported in eastern Gaza City as occupation forces demolished several homes.
The bombardment followed two days of strikes that killed and injured 363 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) denounced the assaults as ‘a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement’, condemning both the attacks on Gaza and Israel’s escalating repression in the occupied West Bank.
It cited the closure of Jerusalem and surrounding roads to secure extremist settler marches and the continued targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque, describing these actions as part of an effort to Judaise the city in defiance of international law and United Nations resolutions.
The OIC called on the international community to pressure Israel to respect its obligations under humanitarian law, uphold the ceasefire, and allow the unrestricted entry of aid into Gaza.
In occupied Jerusalem, Israel has issued demolition and construction halt orders for around 30 Palestinian homes in al-Issawiya and Al-Za’im.
Hamas condemned the orders as ‘a new Zionist crime’ and evidence of a ‘fascist policy aimed at emptying the city of its Palestinian residents and erasing its Arab and Islamic identity’.
The movement described the campaign as a continuation of Israel’s ‘systematic policy of ethnic cleansing’ and urged Palestinians to unite in resisting what it called an existential threat to Jerusalem.
Hamas said the demolitions and forced displacement would not alter the city’s Palestinian identity or weaken its people’s steadfastness.
Hamas also appealed to the international community and human rights organisations to act against Israel’s ongoing ‘crimes of ethnic cleansing’ and to hold the occupation accountable for its continued violations.
Palestinian residents of Al-Za’im and nearby Bedouin communities said they were facing mounting pressure from Israeli authorities, who frequently justify demolitions by citing claims of ‘unauthorised construction’ or designating the land as a ‘firing zone’, tactics widely viewed as cover for settlement expansion.
Meanwhile, European diplomats in Tel Aviv have sharply criticised Defence Minister Yisrael Katz’s decision to bar the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
One ambassador described the move as ‘a grave mistake’ that undermines the Geneva Conventions, saying the Red Cross is ‘the only body legally authorised to monitor the conditions of prisoners in conflict situations’.
Diplomats warned that Israel’s continued refusal to grant access to detainees from Gaza could deepen its international isolation.
Lebanon, the OIC, and several European governments have warned that Israel’s widening campaign across Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank risks reigniting a regional conflict and entrenching a system of collective punishment and displacement that constitutes genocide under international law.
