What is the human cost of Israel’s relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza?

Children react after Israeli bombardment as they take refuge at the Jaouni school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on July 6, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Updated 24 July 2024
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What is the human cost of Israel’s relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza?

  • Hundreds of Palestinians have died in operations that Israeli forces say targeted Hamas fighters or aimed to free hostages
  • The civilian toll following Israel’s recent bombing of Al-Mawasi and Khan Younis has drawn international condemnation

LONDON: Israel’s military has killed dozens of Palestinian civilians and wounded hundreds more, including children, in its relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza, despite designating many of its areas of operation as “safe zones.”

Palestinian health officials said on Monday that 16 civilians were killed in eastern Khan Younis under Israeli shelling, even after Israel issued new orders to evacuate some neighborhoods to keep the civilian population away from areas of combat.

This latest bloodshed followed Israel’s July 13 airstrike on Al-Mawasi camp, another designated safe zone in southern Gaza, which killed at least 90 Palestinians and wounded 300 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israel said the target of this strike was Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Rafa Salama, commander of the group’s Khan Younis Brigade, whom Israel believes was a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

Denying reports of his death, a Hamas official told the AFP news agency following the strike that Deif was “well and directly overseeing” operations, but he provided no proof for the claim.

Meanwhile, Daniel Hagari, the spokesman for the Israeli military, has said “there are increasing signs that we succeeded in the elimination of Mohammed Deif.”




Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. (Reuters)

Speaking to Al-Arabiya TV channel on Friday, he said: “Rafa Salama was certainly eliminated; Mohammed Deif and Salama sat side by side during the strike. Hamas is hiding what happened to Deif.”

Herzi Halevi, Israel’s chief of the general staff, has also accused Hamas of “concealing the results” of the strike on a west Khan Younis compound, where both Deif and Salama were purportedly hiding.

Regardless of whether the strike on Al-Mawasi was successful or not, the attack on an area packed with civilians drew global condemnation, with observers accusing the Israeli military of violating international humanitarian law.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote on the social media platform X: “Wars have limits enshrined in international law; end can’t justify all means. We condemn the violation.”

He added: “Once again we call for access to independent investigations and accountability, and for an end to the appalling situation of innocent civilians in Gaza.”

On the day of the attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi “to express our serious concern about the recent civilian casualties in Gaza.”




Women react after Israeli bombardment as they take refuge at the Jaouni school. (AFP)

The deadly Al-Mawasi strike was not the first incident since the conflict began on Oct. 7 in which the Israeli military has been accused of disregarding the safety of civilians and violating international humanitarian law in the pursuit of Hamas commanders.

In the fighting since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, at least 38,900 Palestinians, including more than 13,000 children, have been killed, according to the UN Human Rights Office. The proportion of the dead who were combatants is a matter of dispute.

The Israeli army’s bombing campaign, which Israeli officials say is aimed at Hamas and not civilian targets, has also destroyed medical, sanitation, and educational infrastructure across the Palestinian enclave.

Last month, in an operation that rescued four hostages, the Israeli military killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said there were “under 100” Palestinian casualties but was uncertain how many of them were “terrorists.”

But almost a quarter of the 142 killed in the operation were women and children, Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat told BBC Arabic’s “Gaza Today” show, adding that 250 others were injured.




Children walk past a destroyed classroom in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

Expressing “profound shock” at the impact on civilians in Nuseirat, UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence said the Israeli forces’ actions “seriously call into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution … were upheld.”

In March, the Israeli military mounted a raid on Gaza’s largest medical facility, Al-Shifa Hospital, where it claimed Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants were hiding.

Some 3,000 people were sheltering in Al-Shifa at the time of Israel’s raid, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said. At least 1,500 Palestinians, including 13 children and 21 patients, were killed in the two-week raid, according to the Euro-Med Monitor, a nongovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva.

Israeli officials said that “over 200 terrorists” were killed in and around Al-Shifa, as well as hundreds detained, including several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.

It has been impossible to independently verify the reported numbers due to a lack of reporting access to Gaza.




Israeli soldiers travel in a military vehicle by the Israel-Gaza border. (Reuters)

Between July 8 and 12, Israel attacked six schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency, killing dozens of civilians sheltering in the area, before reportedly razing the UN agency’s headquarters in Gaza City on July 15.

Israel has accused local staff at UNRWA of participating in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, prompting the UN agency to launch an internal investigation and several major donors, including the US, to suspend funding for its operation in Gaza and throughout the region.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called Israel’s attack on his agency’s Gaza headquarters “another episode in the blatant disregard of international humanitarian law.”

In a post on X, he said: “UN facilities must be protected at all times. They must never be used for military or fighting purposes. Every war has rules. Gaza is no exception.”

In a separate post, Lazzarini stressed that “schools must never be used for fighting or military purposes by any party to the conflict.”

NOTABLE CIVILIAN CASUALTY EVENTS

• Oct. 7, 2023: 1,200 Israeli and other nationals killed in southern Israel, hundreds taken hostage, in Hamas-led attack.

• Oct. 31, 2023: 110+ Palestinians killed in Israeli strike targeting ‘senior Hamas commander’ in Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza.

• Feb. 29, 2024: 112 Palestinians waiting for aid killed, 760 more injured outside Gaza City amid Israeli gunfire and panic.

• April 1: 7 World Central Kitchen workers killed in Israeli strikes in violation of military procedures on convoy delivering aid in Gaza.

• May 27: 45+ Palestinians killed in Israeli strike targeting ‘two senior Hamas commanders’ in Rafah.

• June 9: 274 Palestinians killed in Israeli military raid that freed 4 hostages who were held in Nuseirat refugee camp.

• July 13: 90+ Palestinians killed, 300 wounded in Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in Al-Mawasi.

Source: Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli govt.

Warning that “all rules of war have been broken in Gaza,” he said: “The blatant and constant disregard of international humanitarian law continues unabated.”

Israel has consistently denied accusations that it targets civilian infrastructure, accusing Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups of using tunnels under Gaza’s hospitals to mount attacks and conceal weapons, thereby using the population as human shields.

Commenting on Israel’s conduct, a New York-based international lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Arab News that in the Gaza war, “international law remains relevant as a framework for accountability and justice by providing mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable for war crimes, genocide, and other atrocities.”




Palestinians walk on a street flooded with sewage water in Deir El-Balah. (AFP)

The International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes, has made an attempt to hold “both parties to the conflict” accountable for alleged war crimes.

Israeli officials believe the ICC is likely to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, Israeli media reported on July 17.

Karim Khan, ICC chief prosecutor, filed an application in May for arrest warrants against two Israeli and three Palestinian individuals suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hamas commander Deif was among the Palestinians listed in the ICC’s arrest warrant, alongside Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, and Yahya Sinwar, head of the Islamist movement in Gaza.

The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant accused them of using starvation as a tool of war, extermination, and deliberately attacking civilian populations, alongside other war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Khan said he had “reasonable grounds” to believe the five men bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.

The decision caused anger among the Hamas leadership, in Israel, and even in the US. US President Joe Biden described the move as “outrageous,” saying there was “no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”

Hamas said the ICC’s prosecutor was “equating the victim with the executioner” and demanded the withdrawal of the allegations against its leaders.




Israel has consistently denied accusations that it targets civilian infrastructure. (AFP)

The New York-based international lawyer said that although international law and ongoing developments “create a foundation for addressing atrocities and fostering a more just and peaceful world,” its enforcement “can be inconsistent and subject to political influence.”

On July 19, the UN’s International Court of Justice at The Hague declared Israel’s occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Banks and East Jerusalem, to be “unlawful” in a landmark ruling.

Stating that Israel’s discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid, the ICJ also ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible.”

Israel has since Oct. 7 also mounted dozens of raids on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, killing at least 500 Palestinians, 143 of them children, according to UN figures.

The ICJ’s recent ruling, however, is a non-binding advisory opinion that was sought by the UN General Assembly in 2022, preceding the Israeli onslaught on Gaza and not directly linked to it.

Responding to the ruling, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank).

“No decision of lies in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and similarly, the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our homeland cannot be disputed.”

In December last year, South Africa brought a case against Israel before the ICJ, alleging it had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.




Between July 8 and 12, Israel attacked six schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency, killing dozens of civilians sheltering in the area. (Reuters)

The ICJ issued a provisional ruling in January, modified in May, ordering Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive” and urging Hamas to release the hostages immediately and unconditionally.

Regardless, Israel has continued to bomb Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip where well over a million displaced Palestinians are sheltered, while Hamas is believed to still hold 116 hostages.

No amount of legal wrangling has brought the conflict closer to resolution.

Diplomats and region watchers continue to call on both sides to accept an immediate ceasefire, to exchange hostages and prisoners, and to actively pursue a solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

 


China, Kuwait sign agreement to expand solar power projects

Updated 8 sec ago
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China, Kuwait sign agreement to expand solar power projects

  • China to oversee expansion of Al-Shagaya, Al-Abdiliya plants
  • Shagaya part of Kuwait’s plan to generate 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030

LONDON: Kuwait and China signed a framework agreement this week which included a commitment to cooperate in renewable energy and solar plants technology.

The framework agreement was reached after six months of negotiations, according to Adel Al-Zamel, the undersecretary at the Ministry of Electricity and Water and Renewable Energy, who signed the agreement in Kuwait with Ren Jingdong, the deputy director of the Chinese National Energy Administration.

The agreement outlines a plan, overseen by the Chinese side, for the third and fourth zones of the Al-Shagaya and Al-Abdiliya solar plants projects. Each project will have a joint production capacity of 3,500 megawatts, with the potential to increase to 5,000 megawatts, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

Shagaya Renewable Energy Park, which is in a desert zone near the Kuwait-Saudi border, plays an integral part in Kuwait’s plan to generate 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

Kuwait and China last month signed an agreement to develop the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and will have a capacity to handle more than 8 million containers.

On March 22 the two countries will celebrate the 54th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.

Kuwait’s Ambassador to China Jassem Al-Najem and other Kuwaiti and Chinese officials were present during the agreement’s signing ceremony.


In Lebanon, Israeli strikes point to a precarious ceasefire

Updated 7 min 45 sec ago
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In Lebanon, Israeli strikes point to a precarious ceasefire

  • The war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon marked the deadliest spillover of the Gaza war
  • The Israeli military has reported striking five Hezbollah members in three separate incidents in south Lebanon since Mar. 15

BEIRUT: As Israel resumes heavy strikes in the Gaza Strip, escalating Israeli attacks in south Lebanon have killed five Hezbollah members in the last few days, according to security sources in Lebanon, underlining the fragility of a US-backed ceasefire.
The war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon marked the deadliest spillover of the Gaza war, rumbling across the frontier for months before escalating into a devastating Israeli offensive that wiped out the group’s command and many of its fighters, along with much of its arsenal.
While the ceasefire brought about a big reduction in the violence, each side accuses the other of failing to fully implement it. Israel says Hezbollah still has infrastructure in the south, while Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel is occupying Lebanese soil by not withdrawing from five hilltop positions.
The Israeli military has reported striking five Hezbollah members in three separate incidents in south Lebanon since Mar. 15. In one of the incidents on Sunday, the Israeli military said it struck two Hezbollah militants “who served as observation operatives and directed terrorist activities.” Security sources in Lebanon said five Hezbollah members were killed.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that a gunshot hit a parked car in the Israeli community of Avivim, and that the shot most likely came from Lebanon. No one claimed responsibility.

STRIKES DESTROY PREFAB HOUSES
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes in two towns on Monday destroyed prefabricated houses brought to the area for people whose homes were destroyed in the war, security sources said.
Noting an increase in Israeli strikes in recent days, the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in south Lebanon “urges all actors to avoid any action that could upset the current delicate calm,” spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.
“We continue to urge Israeli forces to fully withdraw south of the Blue Line, and we continue to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in their deployment in the south of Lebanon,” he added.
The Blue Line was drawn by the United Nations in 2000, when Israeli forces withdrew from south Lebanon, and separates the country from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The ceasefire agreed in November required Hezbollah to have no weapons in the south and Israeli troops to withdraw as the US-backed Lebanese army deployed into the region.
Israel said earlier this month it had agreed to US-backed talks with Lebanon aimed at demarcating the border. It also released five Lebanese held by the Israeli military in what it called a “gesture to the Lebanese president.”
Hezbollah officials have put the onus on the Lebanese state to liberate the remaining land still occupied by Israel. Still, leading Hezbollah official Ali Damoush said on Friday the group would not give up its arms while there was an occupation.
Analysts say Hezbollah would have to think very hard before taking any decision to escalate against Israel, noting that its overland resupply route to Iran was severed by the fall of its ally Bashar Assad in Syria and that many of its supporters are homeless because of the devastation caused by the war.
“So far, Hezbollah is keen not to respond and to leave the decision to the government and the Lebanese army,” said Qassem Kassir, a Lebanese analyst close to Hezbollah.


Syria says Israeli strikes aiming to undermine ‘stability’

Updated 12 min 49 sec ago
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Syria says Israeli strikes aiming to undermine ‘stability’

  • A foreign ministry statement denounced “in the strongest terms the recent Israeli air strikes on Daraa,” in southern Syria
  • It added that “these deliberate attacks, launched without reason, reveal Israel’s total disregard for international law and norms”

DAMASCUS: The Syrian Arab Replic's foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned a series of deadly Israeli strikes a day earlier, accusing Israel of seeking to sow instability in the country.
A foreign ministry statement denounced “in the strongest terms the recent Israeli air strikes on Daraa,” in southern Syria, on Monday which authorities said killed three civilians.
“This aggression is part of an Israeli campaign against the Syrian people and the stability of the country,” the statement said.
It added that “these deliberate attacks, launched without reason, reveal Israel’s total disregard for international law and norms” and “represent a direct threat to regional and international security.”
The Israeli military said it had struck “military targets” in southern Syrian including “command centers and military sites.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli military said it launched new air strikes targeting “two cannons” in the region of Khan Arnabah, in the south of Syria, close to the 1974 ceasefire line separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
Since the overthrow of president Bashar Assad on December 8, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria, saying it was acting to prevent the former Syrian army’s weapons falling into the hands of the new authorities whom it considers jihadists.
The toppling of Assad was led by Islamist-rebels, including those who once formed Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, though the new government has sought to distance itself from that past.
The Israeli military has also deployed to the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights, separating the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan from that still controlled by Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria and said his country would not tolerate the presence of forces from the new authorities south of the capital Damascus.


UN humanitarian chief appeals for aid access as Gaza faces ‘total’ blockade

People walk amid the rubble of a building destroyed in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
Updated 38 min 3 sec ago
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UN humanitarian chief appeals for aid access as Gaza faces ‘total’ blockade

  • ‘Worst fears materialized’ after Israel resumes airstrikes, issues new evacuation orders
  • Renewal of hostilities has undermined gains during ceasefire, Security Council told

NEW YORK: The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the aid crisis in Gaza is worsening, as Israel resumed airstrikes across the territory and continued to block vital supplies.

“Overnight our worst fears materialized,” Tom Fletcher told council members.

“Airstrikes resumed across the entire Gaza Strip. (Reports) of hundreds of people killed. New evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces. Once again, the people of Gaza are living in abject fear.”

Fletcher added the situation had returned to chaos, undermining the modest gains made during a recent ceasefire.

Humanitarian efforts in Gaza were severely hampered following the resumption of hostilities, he said.

“Today, I am distressed to report that in addition to the intense airstrikes that have resumed, since March 2 Israeli authorities have cut off the entry of all lifesaving supplies — food, medicines, fuel, cooking gas — for 2.1 million people,” Fletcher said.

“Our repeated requests to collect aid sitting at Karem Shalom crossing have also been systematically rejected. No further hostages have been released. Only medical evacuations and humanitarian staff rotations continued. Even that came to a halt today.”

The blockade has worsened living conditions, with essential services such as clean water becoming increasingly scarce.

Fletcher highlighted that the shutdown of Gaza’s desalination plant has left 600,000 people without access to safe drinking water.

“The current suspension of aid and commercial materials is reversing the progress achieved during the brief ceasefire. Survival resources are now being rationed,” he said, adding that vegetable prices in northern Gaza have tripled, while bakeries have closed due to shortages of cooking gas and supplies.

The World Health Organization has warned that public health risks remain very high, including for communicable diseases resulting from overcrowding and poor sanitation.

Fletcher again raised concerns about the growing challenges facing humanitarian workers, with the new restrictions imposed on international NGOs since the Knesset legislation banning the aid agency UNRWA took effect on Jan. 30.

“UNRWA international staff are no longer able to rotate into and out of Gaza,” he said.

Fletcher said that on March 9, Israeli authorities introduced new registration rules for international NGOs delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the territory. If enforced, these will impose strict conditions and significantly disrupt aid operations.

“The Israeli Knesset is also considering a bill to impose considerable taxation on donations from third states to Israeli NGOs, including humanitarian and human rights groups.

“If implemented, this would further erode the number of partners with the capacity to implement protection interventions.

“Many Israeli NGOs are engaged on legal cases involving home demolitions and forced evictions. They also provide protective presence activities related to settler violence.”

Fletcher underscored the success of the 42-day ceasefire, which allowed deliveries from more than 4,000 aid trucks per week, the release of 30 hostages, and the distribution of essential resources to over 2 million people.

“This proves what’s possible when we’re allowed to do our job,” Fletcher said. “We cannot accept a return to pre-ceasefire conditions or the complete denial of humanitarian relief.”

The UN official also expressed grave concern about escalating violence in the West Bank, where 95 Palestinians, including 17 children, have been killed since the beginning of the year, and over 40,000 Palestinians forced from their homes by Israeli military operations.

Fletcher called for immediate action, urging that humanitarian aid and commercial goods be allowed to enter Gaza, and that hostilities cease with the renewal of a ceasefire agreement.

He warned that without funding for the humanitarian response, which has received only 4 percent of the required financial support, the situation will worsen.

“Blocking food, water, and medicine for people who need them is unconscionable,” Fletcher said. “It goes against international humanitarian law and must be stopped immediately.”


Syria’s Aleppo International Airport reopens for domestic, international flights

Updated 18 March 2025
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Syria’s Aleppo International Airport reopens for domestic, international flights

  • The first passenger flight from Damascus landed after the country’s second major hub reopened for air traffic on Tuesday

LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic reopened the country’s second major airport for flights after nearly three months of closure.

The first passenger flight from Damascus landed at Aleppo International Airport after it reopened for air traffic on Tuesday, amid an official ceremony attended by representatives of Syria’s new interim government, the SANA news agency reported.

The airport was closed in November during the offensive by rebel groups against the regime of Bashar Assad in early December.

Syrian authorities have conducted maintenance and restoration work over the past three months to resume air traffic to and from Aleppo, the country’s second largest city after the capital and an important industrial and trade center.

Authorities announced that Aleppo will begin receiving international flights, facilitating the return of nearly 10 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey and Europe. It will also enable the visits of local and foreign investors to the city, SANA added.

Alaa Sallal, the director of relations at the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, said efforts are underway to expand Aleppo International Airport’s services “to turn it into a key air gateway in Syria capable of handling more flights and connecting the country to the world.”

In January, international flights to and from Damascus resumed for the first time since the fall of Assad with a direct flight from Doha — the first in 13 years.