Israeli drones, warplanes hit homes, camp for displaced people in Gaza
Overnight attacks by Israeli forces left one person dead and several injured after armed drones attacked civilians in the town of az-Zawayda in central Gaza, the Wafa news agency reports.
Drones also attacked civilians in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City, while Israel’s bombing of Rafah city’s eastern area of Kafr al-Mashrou killed one person and left several injured.
Several people were also reported killed and wounded in air strikes on houses in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, and a house was bombed east of Khan Younis with an unknown number of casualties, Wafa reports.
Those attacks followed Israeli missiles reported to have killed at least 17 people and injured 80 sheltering at the UN-affiliated Abu Oreiban school sheltering displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
An injured Palestinian girl stands among debris in the badly damaged UN-run Abu Oreiban school in the Nuseirat refugee camp following an Israeli attack on Sunday
International inaction enables genocide in Gaza, say Palestinian rights groups
Three Palestinian human rights groups have blamed the international community for Israel’s “deliberate massacres” of civilians in Gaza.
“The international community’s failure to end the ongoing genocide” has enabled Israeli attacks, including the latest “horrific massacres” in the al-Mawasi area, which killed at least 90, and in the Shati refugee camp, where Israeli warplanes bombed Palestinians at prayer killing 22 people, the rights groups said.
“International inaction continues to embolden Israel to perpetrate international crimes,” the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Al-Haq, and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights said in a joint statement.
“States arming and financing Israel’s genocidal acts are complicit in these crimes, including genocide,” they said.
Israel’s deliberate massacres against Palestinians in Gaza - the in Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis & Al-Shati Camp in Gaza City, is the result of the int. community’s failure to end the ongoing #GazaGenocide.
Our latest w/ @pchrgaza & @AlMezanCenter https://t.co/xc7KoXVaTc
— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) July 14, 2024
Israel used missiles, quadcopters, drones in ‘multi-stage’ al-Mawasi attack
Israel’s attack on the al-Mawasi camp was a “multi-stage attack” involving multiple missiles, drones and quadcopters and lasted for about 90 minutes, three Palestinian human rights groups have said.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Al-Haq, and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan) say the details are based on information collected by their field researchers.
Here’s how the attack unfolded:
- At approximately 10:30am local time on Saturday, Israeli warplanes fired about four missiles at a building near a house belonging to the Al-Shorbaji family in Al-Nusf Street. Residents say they were given no prior warning.
- The warplanes then fired several more missiles at nearby tents, burying people beneath the sand and killing and injuring many.
- Israeli quadcopters then surrounded the area and fired at anyone approaching.
- When Palestinian Civil Defence workers arrived, an Israeli drone fired in front of their vehicle, killing two personnel, including the deputy director of the Fire and Rescue Department of the Civil Defence, and injuring eight others, three of whom are in critical condition.
At least 90 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday
What are Israeli quadcopters?
Israeli forces reportedly used quadcopter drones to shoot Palestinians who tried to help those killed and injured in their missile attack on al-Mawasi camp on Saturday.
It’s the latest example of Israel using unmanned aerial vehicles in Gaza, where the low hum of drones buzzing overhead has become a constant reminder that Israeli forces can “shoot to kill” at any moment.
Rights group Euro-Med Monitor warned in February that Israel is increasingly using quadcopters, which it described as “small killer drones fitted with machine guns and missiles”, to kill Palestinians in Gaza systematically.
Quadcopters refer specifically to drones with four rotors, although the Israeli army has been known to use a range of different drones, including some that have six rotors.
The quadcopters used by the Israeli army in Gaza include drones originally designed for photography, that have since been adapted for lethal use.
How long until one of these is used in a mass shooting in the US...
