DayofPal– A new investigation conducted by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has revealed details of a massacre committed by the Israeli army, which resulted in the killing of more than 70 Palestinian civilians, most of them women, children, and the elderly, with the majority of them belonging to one family.
The Euro-Med Monitor stated that the massacre took place during a large-scale Israeli military attack on the residential area of the Shheiber family in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City on November 17-18, 2023. Several residential buildings were targeted by airstrikes and drones while civilians were inside their homes.
The Euro-Med Monitor was able to verify the identities of 61 of the victims, all of whom were from the Shheiber family. Among them were 27 children, 16 women—including 3 elderly women—and 18 men, including two elderly men. The identities of some of the victims could not be determined as they were torn into shreds.
What happened?
On Friday, November 17, 2023, the massacre started at around 4:10 AM when the Israeli occupation army pounded Shheiber Street, near Al-Thalathini Street in the Sabra neighborhood with a series of missiles.
Warplanes fired at least two missiles at a five-story residential building owned by Maher Shheiber, without any prior warning. The attack completely destroyed three residential floors, killing around 40 people and injuring about 20 others who were inside the building.
The only survivors were a displaced family of 10 members who were staying on the ground floor and managed to escape the bombardment.
According to eyewitnesses, an Israeli drone targeted a second nearby residential building, within half an hour of the first attack. The building, which consisted of four floors, was owned by Muhey Shheiber.
This attack resulted in the killing of a child and the severe injury of his mother. After that, the Israeli army targeted a third residential building owned by Nahid Shheiber, the head of the Shheiber family.
The upper floor of the building was destroyed in an attack close in timing to the second one, resulting in the killing of a woman and the injury of 10 others. All of these attacks were carried out without any prior warning or alert.
After the attack, residents in the area rushed to the place to save people only to find them into shreds. The managed to collect 15 torn bodies and accumulated them on the sidewalk next to the building.
Residents also pulled out about 12 people with serious injuries from the targeted building and took them to a nearby house owned by the elderly woman, Amina Shheiber, which was the same house where the victims’ bodies were placed in front of.
However, the injured later succumbed to their wounds due to the inability to provide medical assistance or transfer them to the hospital. Around 6:00 AM, the locals tried to transport some of them in private cars to the nearby Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital, but they were shocked to find Israeli tanks surrounding the area, forcing them to retreat.
Some hours later, residents of the neighborhood went out to bury dozens of killed people, but they were targeted by an Israeli drone, which fired two direct missiles, killing 20 more people, including children.
Between 6:30 and 7:00 AM, the residents were shocked to see Israeli military vehicles invade the street from the direction of Al-Thalathini Street.
Before the invasion, Israeli aircraft targeted the fifth floor of a fourth residential building, a six-story structure owned by Rafiq Shheiber family on the same street. This resulted in the killing of a girl and a woman, and the injury of several women and children inside.
As soon as the ground invasion began, the residents rushed to take shelter inside their homes, in nearby houses, and in the back streets, fearing that the army’s vehicles would open fire on them. The bodies of the killed people were gathered on the sidewalk before the elderly Amina Shheiber’s house.
When the Israeli vehicles stormed the street, they ran over the bodies accumulated on the sidewalk and repeatedly bulldozed them, turning the bodies into shreds and making it impossible to distinguish one from another.
The vehicles also destroyed and swept away all the cars and trucks in the street, including about 30 transport trucks owned by the Shheiber family.
When the army’s’ vehicles reached the end of Shheiber Street, they cleared an area filled with trees and stationed there, opening direct and intense fire on the residential buildings where several residents and displaced civilians, mostly women and children, had taken shelter. This resulted in more Palestinian casualties and injuries.
The next day, November 18, 2023, at 6:00 AM, a number of residents headed toward the street trying to return to their homes on Shheiber Street after knowing that the military forces had withdrawn from the area.
When the people helped in retrieving the bodies from the street, an Israeli drone fired two direct missiles at them, killing around 20 people, some of whom were children, and injuring an equal number with varying degrees of wounds.
Euro-Med Investigation Results
The Euro-Med confirmed that its investigation into this massacre found no evidence indicating the presence of military targets in the area at the time of the attack or before it, whether military facilities or armed elements.
Therefore, this attack suggests that there was no military necessity for launching it in the first place, and it violated the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution that Israel is obligated to respect at all times.
The investigation clarified that during the attack, the Israeli army used warplanes and drones to launch highly destructive and wide-ranging missiles aiming them directly at civilians and residential buildings without any prior warning.
It also mutilated the victims’ bodies, violating their dignity, and carried out a surprise ground invasion using heavy machinery in a densely populated residential area.
The investigation also revealed that the Israeli amy imposed a blanket and arbitrary siege on the entire area, preventing the residents from either fleeing to save their lives or providing medical assistance to the wounded, which led to their death.
According to the data collected by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, the military attack carried out by the Israeli army against the Shheiber family can only be classified as either a deliberate direct attack, indiscriminate, or excessive, any of which constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute.
Furthermore, this attack is considered a complete crime against humanity committed by the invading forces against a group of civilians, placed under a large-scale and systematic military assault the army has been waging against Gaza population for over a year.
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