July 2024 al-Shati refugee camp attack | |
---|---|
Part of the Israel–Hamas war and the Siege of Gaza City | |
Location | al-Shati refugee camp, Gaza City, Gaza Strip |
Date | 13 July 2024 |
Attack type | Shelling |
Deaths | 20+ Palestinians |
Injured | 10+ Palestinians |
Perpetrator | Israel Defense Forces |
On 13 July 2024, the Israel Defense Forces conducted targeted shelling operations on the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. The bombings hit a group of Palestinians gathered to pray near the ruins of a mosque in the camp, killing at least 20. [1]
The al-Shati camp was established in 1948 for about 23,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. [2] [3] As of 2023, it was one of the most densely populated places in the world with a population of over 90,000 refugees in an area of only 0.52 km2. [2]
Israel Defense Forces conducted two separate airstrikes on the refugee camp at the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on 9 and 12 October, destroying four mosques and killing at least 15 civilians. [4] Al-Shati camp was again targeted by Israeli forces on 22 June 2024, where dual airstrikes on the camp and Tuffah district killed at least 43 people. [5]
On 13 July 2024, the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza reported that at least 20 people were killed by military shelling conducted on the al-Shati refugee camp, leaving several more victims in critical condition. The agency reported that many of the victims were gathered in a prayer room for noon prayer at the site of a destroyed mosque at the time of the attack. Eyewitnesses reported that the camp residents only gathered for noon prayer at the mosque, and not for evening Maghrib and Isha prayers in order to avoid being potentially targeted then. [1] [6]
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that they had recovered six bodies and three critically injured civilians shortly following the attack. At least ten deceased and twenty injured victims were taken to the nearby al-Ahli Arab Hospital. [1]
Hamas called the attacks acts of "escalating Zionist terrorism and crimes against humanity" and rallied Gazans to continue their resistance in holding onto their land. [1]
The Iraqi government condemned the attacks in conjunction with attacks on al-Mawasi camp that also occurred on 13 July 2024, calling the attacks and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's and his government's role in them acts attempts to "undermine all concepts of international law" while ignoring "every humanitarian voice", that would further destabilize the Middle East and spread conflict outside the region. He repeated earlier calls to the international community to hold Israel accountable for its "blatant aggression by an entity that considers itself above international law and justice" as a "dangerous precedent in human history", and to support Palestinian human rights. [7]
Al-Shati, also known as Shati or Beach camp, is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the northern Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean Sea coastline in the Gaza Governorate, and more specifically Gaza City.
Nuseirat is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, five kilometers north-east of Deir al-Balah. The refugee camp is in the Deir al-Balah Governorate, Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the refugee camp had a population of 31,747 and the surrounding Nuseirat municipality had a population of 54,851 in 2017. The camp was established after the 1948 Palestinian expulsion during the 1948 Palestine war.
The following is a timeline of events during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in 2021, including the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis.
The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
Events in 2023 in the Palestinian territories.
From 9 October 2023, as part of the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted airstrikes in Jabalia refugee camp, claiming it was a stronghold for Hamas and other militant groups.
On 9 October 2023, during the Israel–Hamas war, the Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on al-Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, destroying four mosques. According to Palestinian media, the attack killed people inside. The camp is Gaza's third-largest refugee camp, with a population of more than 90,000 refugees. A second strike was conducted on 12 October, killing 13 people.
The siege of Gaza City began on 2 November 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) surrounded Gaza City, amid the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, which was a counterattack to the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Gaza City is the most populated city in the Gaza Strip and the battle started on 30 October 2023, when Israel and Hamas clashed in Gaza City. According to Oxfam, there are about 500,000 Palestinians, along with 200 Israelis and other captives, were trapped in a "siege within a siege" in northern Gaza.
Since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Al-Maghazi refugee camp was struck several times.
In the Israel–Hamas war, as part of the bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip as part of its military operations in the Israel–Hamas war. The IDF claims such airstrikes are the result of the placement of military infrastructure and rocket launching from civilian areas, including schools. By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed. In June 2024, UNOCHA stated 76 percent of Gaza's schools required "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation".
Events in 2024 in the Palestinian territories.
On 31 October 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces struck a residential building in the Gaza Strip during its operations in Gaza in the Israel–Hamas war, killing at least 106 people, including 54 children. Human Rights Watch said there was no evidence of any military targets in the area at the time of the attack, making the strike an apparent war crime. The incident was not public knowledge until April 2024.
This timeline of the Israel–Hamas war covers the period from the start of the Rafah offensive to the present day.
On 28 May 2024, Gaza emergency services reported that four tank artillery shells struck a tent city in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone west of Rafah, hitting a group of tents and killing at least 21 people, at least 12 of whom were women, and injuring 64 people, including 10 in a critical condition. The strike occurred in an area designated as an expanded humanitarian zone by Israel in the wake of the Rafah offensive which has led to the mass displacement of Palestinian civilians to tent cities outside of the city.
On 21 June 2024, Israeli forces attacked refugee tent camps in al-Mawasi, Gaza Strip just outside an area designated as a humanitarian safe zone. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 25 people were killed and 50 others were injured in the two rounds of bombing. The bombing was the second Israeli bombardment of the al-Mawasi refugee camp in under a month, with an attack on 28 May killing over 21 people and injuring 64 more.
The June 2024 northern Gaza City airstrikes or Al-Shati and Tuffah dual airstrikes took place on 22 June 2024, when two airstrikes conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces occurred at roughly the same time in northern districts of Gaza City, striking the al-Shati refugee camp and the Tuffah district, killing at least 43 people and wounding dozens more.
On 13 July 2024, Israel air struck Al-Mawasi area in the Gaza Strip, with the goal of assassinating the military commander of Hamas, Mohammed Deif. Deif's current status is unclear. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the attack killed at least 90 Palestinians and injured at least 300 in what Israel had designated a "safe zone" for civilians. and took place during the Israel-Hamas war. According to the New York Times the main strike was likely caused by a 2000-pound bomb, deliveries of which are currently suspended by the US because of the likelihood of associated civilian casualties. A secondary strike fell outside the main target area and killed first responders, video showed many dead being carried away, some wearing Gaza Civil Defense vests.
On 13 July 2024, Israeli airstrikes attacked an alleged fenced operational area, run by Hamas, in the western outskirts of Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip. The strike was an alleged attempt to assassinate the military commander of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, as well as Rafa Salama. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that at least 90 Palestinians were killed, while at least another 300 were injured.