Israeli drones fire on Gaza City
Al Jazeera’s sources say that the Israeli army has fired on citizens’ homes in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, in the northern Strip.
Earlier, the Israeli army reported that its air force attacked targets in Gaza City, saying that its targets were militants.
Wafa news agency said that the drones fired on civilians.
UN rights office accuses Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has denounced Israel’s killing of Palestinians as well as blockade on all aid into Gaza as war crimes.
The agency said Israeli forces have killed at least 58 Palestinians, including 10 children and three women, in the vicinity of the Israeli-imposed “no-go” zones since the ceasefire, and noted many of the victims were attacked as they attempted to check on their homes.
“Targeting Palestinians who are not actively participating in hostilities is a war crime regardless of the Israeli-imposed movement restrictions,” the agency said.
The Israeli blockade, now in its seventh day, has caused prices to soar and resulted in anxiety over a return to bombardment and starvation, it said. The blockade also comes as health authorities reported that at least eight babies have died from the cold in the past weeks.
“As the occupying power, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure the provision of the necessities of life for Palestinians living under its control,” the OHCHR said. “Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment. The use of hunger and starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.”
Israeli forces raid homes of released Palestinian prisoners in Hebron
The Israeli military has carried out raids in locations across the occupied West Bank over recent hours, including:
- The city of Hebron, where Israeli forces stormed the home of two Palestinian former prisoners released in recent weeks as part of the ceasefire deal.
- The city of Nablus, where Israeli forces have raided residential buildings near al-Quds Open University in the west.
- The town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya.
- The town of Qusra, south of Nablus.
- Israeli forces have detained a Palestinian man at the Beit Furik checkpoint, east of Nablus.
Israeli settlers accused of killing stolen livestock
As we previously reported, Israeli settlers have stolen two flocks of sheep owned by Palestinians in the Bedouin community of Ras Ein al-Auja, north of Jericho in the occupied West Bank. A Palestinian activist in the West Bank, Ihab Hassan, is now reporting that some of the sheep have been found slaughtered.
UN denounces Israel’s ‘alarming disregard for Palestinian lives’ in West Bank
The agency denounced Israel’s continued killings in the occupied West Bank, noting Israeli forces have killed at least 54 Palestinians, including eight children since launching an offensive in the Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem governorates after the ceasefire in Gaza.
Outside those governorates, Israeli forces have also killed five other Palestinians in the past two weeks, including a 12-year-old boy who was shot in the back in Hebron.
“The killings increasingly demonstrate an alarming disregard for Palestinian lives with high prevalence of unlawful killings,” it said. “As there are no hostilities in the West Bank, the international human rights law standards on the use of force in law enforcement operations apply. Instead, Israel now routinely resorts to using tactics and weapons developed for war fighting, including the deployment of airstrikes and tanks.”
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