The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Palestine (East Jerusalem, West Bank and the Gaza Strip) after the 1948 Palestine war.
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Name | Date | Location | Responsible Party | Deaths | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qibya massacre | 14 October 1953 | Qibya, Jordanian annexation of the West Bank | ![]() | 69 | Qibya was the target of an Israeli raid by Unit 101 under the command of Ariel Sharon, which resulted in the deaths of some 69 unarmed Palestinian civilians. [1] [2] [3] |
Khan Yunis massacre | 3 November 1956 | Khan Yunis, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip | ![]() | 275+ [4] [5] | Palestinians killed in house-to-house search for fedayeen |
Rafah massacre | 12 November 1956 | Rafah, Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip | ![]() | 111+ [6] [7] | Male Palestinian villagers suspected of supporting Palestinian guerrillas |
1956 to 1982 | |||||
1983 Hebron University attack | 26 July 1983 | Hebron University, Hebron | Jewish Underground | 3 [8] [9] [10] | Three Palestinian students were killed and more than thirty other people were wounded from the attack. |
1990 Temple Mount killings | 8 October 1990 | East Jerusalem | ![]() | 17 [11] [12] [13] | 150 Palestinians wounded by Israeli security forces, and 20 Israeli civilians and police wounded by Palestinians. |
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre | 25 February 1994 | Hebron | Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein | 29 [14] [15] [16] | 29 Muslims praying inside the Ibrahimi Mosque were killed with 125 more wounded. [17] |
Al Bureij killings | 16 April 2008 | Bureij | ![]() | 9 [18] [19] | One of the victims was Palestinian journalist, Fadel Shana'a. |
Ibrahim al-Maqadma Mosque missile strike | 3 January 2009 | Beit Lahia | ![]() | 16 [20] | |
2011 Itamar attack | 11 March 2011 | Itamar [21] | Two Palestinians [22] | 5 (Israeli) [23] | Both parents and three children of one family stabbed to death in their home, one infant decapitated. [24] |
Al-Dalu family killing | 18 November 2012 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 12 [25] | |
Battle of Shuja'iyya | 19-23 July 2014 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 70-120 [26] [27] | U.S. military officers alleged that the Israeli forces were not targeting Hamas sites specifically, leading to a high civilian death toll. [28] [29] [30] |
Wehda Street massacre | 16 May 2021 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 44 [31] [32] | Israeli forces bombed al-Wehda Street, a densely populated residential and commercial neighbourhood. [33] |
Jabalia camp massacre | 31 October 2023 | Jabalia Camp, Gaza Strip | ![]() | 50-120+ [34] [35] | 777+ wounded. [36] |
Shadia Abu Ghazala School massacre | 13 December 2023 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 7-15 [37] | Eyewitnesses reported the victims had been shot and killed point-blank by Israeli soldiers. [38] |
2024 Rafah hostage raid | 12 February 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 94-100+ [39] | Women and children, including Sidra Hassouna, [40] killed in airstrikes on Rafah. [41] |
Flour massacre | 29 February 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 112+ [42] [43] | Palestinians waiting for food aid killed after shooting by Israeli forces in Gaza. [42] |
Kuwait Roundabout mass killings | 14 March 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() Gazan militants (Israeli claim) | 20 [44] [45] | 155 wounded. |
Tel al-Sultan massacre | 26 May 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 40+ [46] | The Israeli Air Force struck Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, setting fire to a Palestinian displacement camp. [46] [47] |
May 2024 Al-Mawasi refugee camp attack | 28 May 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 21+ [48] [49] | Part of the Gaza War |
Nuseirat refugee camp massacre | 8 June 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 274+ [50] [51] [52] | The Nuseirat rescue operation resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp, including women and children, and over 600 injuries. [50] |
Al-Awda school massacre | 9 July 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 31+ [53] [54] | Part of the Gaza War |
Al-Tabaeen school attack | 10 August 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 80-93+ [55] | Part of the Gaza War. Al-Haq alleged that school serving as shelter was deliberately targeted by Israeli military. [56] |
14 October 2024 Al-Aqsa Hospital attack | 14 October 2024 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 6+ [57] [58] | At least 6 sheltering outside Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah were killed, and 70+ injured, when an Israeli airstrike set their tents on fire. Victims include 19-year-old Sha'ban al-Dalou. [59] |
March 2025 Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip | 18 March 2025 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 855+ [60] | Israel resumed hostilities after the January 2025 ceasefire by launching airstrikes on Gaza. Sources reported the Israeli military killing hundreds. [61] |
Rafah paramedic massacre | 23 March 2025 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 15 | Israeli troops opened fire and killed 15 Palestinian medics. [62] [63] [64] |
Al-Najjar family massacre | 23 May 2025 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 10 | 9 of the victims were children from the same family. [65] [66] |
Fahmi al-Jarjawi School Massacre | 25 May 2025 | Gaza Strip | ![]() | 36 [67] [68] | 36 people were killed and 55 others were injured when Israeli forces targeted at Fahmi al-Jarjawi School. |
2025 Gaza Strip aid distribution killings | 27 May – 9 October 2025 [69] | Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Netzarim, and Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip | ![]() Safe Reach Solutions (alleged) [70] [71] [72] ![]() Infidels Motorcycle Club (part of UG Solutions) (alleged) [73] [74] [75] [76] | 2,500+ [77] | Over 2,500 Palestinians were killed as they approached the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid sites in Gaza. |
These events involving multiple deaths in the occupied Palestinian territories are not widely known, or recognized, as 'massacres'.
Even if members of a Palestinian armed group were in the vicinity of the mosque prior to the attack, the officer should have cancelled the attack as soon as he learned of the presence of scores of civilians in and outside the mosque. Customary international humanitarian law requires an attacking force 'to do everything feasible to cancel or suspend an attack if it becomes apparent that the target is not a military objective or that the attack may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated'.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)June 19, 2002: Seven people were killed and 37 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded bus stop and hitchhiking post in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Many healthcare workers in Gaza, like Dr. Hammam, demonstrate exceptional humanity and bravery, yet they are tragically lost rather than celebrated.
...airstrike killed Zorob at his Rafah home as well as 25 members of his family on Dec. 19...
After a June 6, 2024, attack on al-Sardi school, the Israeli military identified 17 names of alleged fighters. However, a Human Rights Watch review of the names found that three were people who appeared to have been killed in earlier attacks.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Human Rights Watch investigated Israeli attacks that struck the Khadija girls' school in Deir al-Balah on July 27, 2024, killing at least 15 people, and al-Zeitoun C school in al-Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City on September 21, 2024, killing at least 34 people. Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target at either school.
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