RAMALLAH, Thursday, April 04, 2024 (WAFA) – An Israeli airstrike on a six-story apartment building sheltering hundreds of people in central Gaza on October 31, 2023, is an apparent war crime, Human Rights Watch said today.
The attack, which killed at least 106 civilians, including 54 children, is among "the deadliest single incidents for civilians since the Israeli government’s bombardment and ground incursion into Gaza."
Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target in the vicinity of the building at the time of the Israeli attack, making the strike unlawfully indiscriminate under the laws of war.
Israeli authorities have provided no justification for the attack. The Israeli military’s long track record of failing to credibly investigate alleged war crimes underscores the importance of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s inquiry into serious crimes.
“Israel’s unlawful airstrike on an apartment building on October 31 killed at least 106 people, including children playing football, residents charging phones in the ground-floor grocery store, and displaced families seeking safety,” said Gerry Simpson, director at Human Rights Watch. “This strike inflicted massive civilian casualties without an apparent military target.
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