According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, thirteen children were killed in a strike on a family home which left “at least” 25 dead in Jabalia, one of the most densely populated areas of the Palestinian territory. The building was completely razed and transformed into a shapeless pile of stones, noted an AFP correspondent on site.
The bombing occurred around 6:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. in Switzerland) “at a time when the residents here wake up and have breakfast,” testified a member of the Allouche family, Abdallah al-Najjar. “There was a big explosion to the point that, when we arrived, all the bodies were torn to pieces,” he added.
For its part, the Israeli army assured that it had targeted a site in an area of Jabalia “where terrorists were operating”, representing “a threat” to its troops. “Before the strike, numerous measures were taken to limit the risk of injuring civilians,” said a military spokesperson.
“The house served as a refuge for people during intense bombardments,” Abdallah al-Najjar added at the site of Sunday’s strike. “And there they all died. There is no one left, only my mother and me.” “This is the bread they wanted to eat for breakfast,” he said, waving a piece of pita. “What is the point of a piece of bread if there is no security and no peace?”
Around him, volunteers were clearing the rubble with their bare hands. A stuffed mouse lay among the stones. Wrapped in bloodstained white shrouds, the victims’ bodies were transported aboard a van to be buried in a cemetery in Jabalia. “Children, women and innocent people represent a breeding ground of targets for the Israeli enemy,” commented a neighbor of the Allouche family, Mohammed al-Barch.
Hamas condemned the Jabalia “massacre” in a statement, saying the Allouche family home “was filled with more than 50 innocent civilians.” The majority were children and women, including people “who had been forcibly displaced by the occupation from the Jabalia refugee camp,” according to the movement.
Carried out after verifying a partial count of war victims, a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published on Friday said that women and children represented “nearly 70%” of the deaths. in Gaza over the period from November 2023 to April 2024. The Israeli army said it was “committed to operating within the framework of the laws of armed conflict” and assured that it was striving to “minimize damage to non-combatants.
