Israel’s claims about the school massacre refuted; Germany condones massacre as “self-defense”; 75th anniversary of Geneva Conventions – the Rules of War that no one follows; West Bank deaths; 1,000 women, children imprisoned by Israel in West Bank since 7 Oct; Iran attack could be imminent; West calls on Iran, but not Israel, to refrain from retaliation; 300 Israelis hold rally by Gaza border, demand Israelis re-colonize Strip; Israeli hostage executed in response to massacre; more.
By IAK staff, from reports.
Initial Euro-Med Monitor investigation finds no evidence of military presence at site of Tab’een School massacre in Gaza
Euro-Med Monitor reports: Initial investigations by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor found no proof or indication of any military operations or combatants at the Tab’een School in Gaza City, whose prayer hall Israel targeted in a brutal massacre that claimed the lives of over 100 Palestinians. The incident has been nicknamed the “Fajr massacre,” since the attack happened during the dawn, or Fajr, prayer.
Quite the contrary, the location turned out to be a series of narrow buildings, with sections open to each other and lacking any equipment, where dozens of Palestinian families had taken refuge after being forcibly displaced from their homes, some of which have since been completely erased from the civil registry.
The Euro-Med Monitor field and legal team carried out a survey and preliminary investigation at the Tab’een School, which was providing shelter to over 2,500 displaced people in Gaza City. The team gathered data, recorded the statements of witnesses and survivors, and surveyed the location following the attack.
According to all available information and testimonies, there were no military gatherings or centers at the school, and it was never used for military objectives. Survivors testified that the school was providing shelter to hundreds of children whose families felt safe there.
The Israeli bombing specifically targeted the prayer hall where displaced people were praying at dawn, as well as the upper prayer hall used for housing women and children. Preliminary reports indicate that the Israeli army detonated three US-made bombs in the attack, which had a tremendous capacity to burn, melt, and destroy bodies. As a result, over 100 Palestinians were killed, including several families, and prominent academic figures at the universities of Gaza, among them Professor Youssef Al-Kahlout, an Arabic language professor.
Owing to the bombs’ immense destructive power, the victims’ bodies were reduced to shredded pieces and burned parts, along with numerous serious injuries.
Israel must be bound by the principles of international humanitarian law, particularly those regarding distinction, proportionality, military necessity, taking necessary precautions, and the duty to protect civilians. This requires deciding on the best course of action for military operations and the kind of weaponry to employ with the express consideration of reducing civilian casualties and losses.
(Read the full report here.)
US funding of Israeli #Genocide is ballooning as the Israeli army uses ever more lethal bombs. The ones used yesterday in the #AlTabinSchool massacre sliced bodies to the point of making them unrecognizable. They are now identified by weight: 70kg bag = 1 adult. Revolting. https://t.co/elFVamEmcw pic.twitter.com/y361oeSXgL
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) August 11, 2024
UNRWA chief marks 75 years of Geneva Conventions
Statement from UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini: 75 years ago today, the Geneva Conventions were put in place to protect civilians in times of wars. They are the universal “Rules of War” meant to limit the devastating impact of wars & conflicts on humanity.
The one set of rules we “all agree on”, but do we?
In the past 10 months, these rules have been blatantly broken day in, day out in Gaza by the Israeli Forces as well as the Palestinian armed groups including Hamas.
More concerning, Member States- party to the Geneva Conventions- have failed in their responsibilities to respect the conventions and ensure that parties to the conflict respect them under all circumstances.
Our shared values enshrined in the Conventions are at stake as is our shared humanity. It is time to re-instate those values + re-commit to the Conventions. They are the compass of international humanitarian law.
The basics still apply: Civilians, women, children, detainees must be protected. Schools, hospitals, people’s homes, humanitarian + UN staff, facilities & operations must be protected.
![Kifah Dabaya (L) , Sobhi Ahmed Al-Bazz (R) were killed by Israeli forces in a raid on Jenin, on 12 August 2024 [blackmoth89/X]](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/8-13-2-300x186.png)
Israeli forces kill 18-year-old who wounded one Israeli and two Palestinians in occupied West Bank
Middle East Eye reports: Israeli soldiers shot and killed 18-year-old Tareq Ziad Abdulraheem Daoud near the town of Azoun, east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry says.
Daoud reportedly opened fire at an Israeli civilian who entered Qalqilya, wounding him and two Palestinians, before being shot by Israeli soldiers.
Israeli forces killed 16 volunteer medics since October 7: PRCS
Al Jazeera reports: Israel has killed 16 Palestinian volunteer medics in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since October 7, the Palestinian Red Crescent says.
Medical workers and ambulances are routinely targeted in Israeli attacks.
According to the Government Media Office, at least 885 medical workers have been killed since Israel launched its assault on Gaza.
At least 131 ambulances have been targeted there, it said.
![A Palestine Red Crescent ambulance in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, following the withdrawal of occupation forces Thursday, May 30](https://israelpalestinenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5-31-a-300x169.jpg)
Over 1,000 women, children imprisoned by Israel in West Bank since 7 Oct.
MORE NEWS:
IMEMC Daily Reports.
The Cradle: Germany says Israel’s massacre at Gaza school justified in ‘self defense’
Al Jazeera: ‘Part of me is missing’: How Israel’s war on Gaza tears spouses apart
Palestine Chronicle: “US funding of Israeli genocide ballooning” – UN rapporteur, Francesca Albanese
Middle East Eye: Pro-Israel donors raise hundreds of thousands in last-minute funds to unseat Ilhan Omar
The recent attack on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced families in #Gaza has caused mass casualties and utter devastation.
Half of the school buildings that have been directly hit since October 2023 were sheltering displaced people.
Watch the aftermath 📹⬇️
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) August 12, 2024
Our joint @UN convoy arriving in Gaza City this morning with medical supplies, hygiene kits, food & more.
Emotional response from these exhausted families, relieved to see aid supplies reach them. But it’s not enough – basic needs in north #Gaza have not improved in 6 months. pic.twitter.com/K0aE8wrGKg
— Louise Wateridge (@UNWateridge) July 12, 2024
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – AUGUST 12:
Palestinian death toll from October 7 – August 12: at least 40,519* (39,897 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,251 children as of July 22. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]
This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 622 in the West Bank (~145 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.
Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.
Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.
- At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
- At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
- About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
- 2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7 – August 12: at least 97,572 (including at least 92,152 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – August 12: ~1,486 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 331 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.
Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**
Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Palestinians’ harrowing stories of rape by Israeli soldiers (including female soldiers)
- A Palestinian journalist visited Ismail Haniyeh’s home in Gaza to report on his death. Israel assassinated him too.
- I reported a piece for the New York Times on antisemitism. I found a major error, but the Times didn’t care.
- How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza
- Why the West Bank is on the verge of economic collapse
- Netanyahu’s plan to involve US in regional war on its behalf
- Western media continue to withhold the truth about Israel and Gaza – 4 stories
- “Well What SHOULD Israel Have Done After October 7?”
- Welcome to Hell
- More dead children. More BBC ‘news’ channelling Israeli propaganda as its own
- U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal
- Israeli soldiers tell story of savage cruelty in Gaza – one given blessing by the West
- Searching for Gaza’s missing children
- What Would You Do With An Extra $320 Million?
- Assassination of Haniyeh an intentional, dangerous escalation – Parsi, Macgregor
- When Israel Burned Refugees Alive, Establishment Media Called It a ‘Tragic Accident’
- Israel has turbocharged West Bank housing demolitions under the cover of war
- Western media ignores Israeli confirmation of Hannibal Directive on 7 Oct
- US Should Arrest Benjamin Netanyahu When He’s in Washington
- Airwars investigation: Israeli airstrikes uniquely lethal (video)
- Hesen Jabr paid the price of conscience
- Gaza genocide denial
- Why the news media’s job is to groom us
- ‘Disappeared, buried, detained’: The horrors of Gaza’s missing children