The Israeli military has “illegally and indiscriminately” used US munitions to attack school shelters in Gaza, killing hundreds of people, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.
The US-based campaigners’ report, “Gaza: Israeli School Strikes Magnify Civilian Peril,” was published Thursday.
Israel’s campaign following the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023 has made the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.1 million people homeless – forcing many to flee their neighborhoods in search of civilian infrastructure.
Israel has frequently said its strikes on school facilities in Gaza target embedded Hamas fighters. But HRW said it only found seven instances where the military published details of alleged militants killed – and highlighted two strikes, which killed nearly 50 people, where they found no evidence of any military target.
Such attacks would violate international law because schools and other educational facilities are civilian objects and protected from attack, HRW said. They lose that protection when used for military purposes or are occupied by military forces. But the use of schools to house civilians does not alter their legal status.
HRW called on the US and other governments to halt arms sales to Israel, given the “clear risk” that weapons might be used to commit or facilitate “serious violations” of international humanitarian law.” Washington’s supply of arms to Israel has made the US “complicit” in their lawful use, the group said.
“Israeli strikes on schools sheltering displaced families provide a window into the widespread carnage that Israeli forces have carried out in Gaza,” Gerry Simpson, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at HRW, said in the report.
“Other governments should not tolerate this horrendous slaughter of Palestinians merely seeking safety,” added Simpson.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it “operates exclusively on the grounds of military necessity and in strict accordance with international law.”
“It must be emphasized that the report blatantly ignores Hamas’ systematic pattern of unlawfully embedding its’ military assets, including weapons and ammunition in, beneath, and in proximity to densely populated civilian areas, and cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terror purposes,” the IDF added.
“Specifically, it has been well documented that Hamas exploits schools and UNRWA facilities for its military activities by building military networks beneath and within schools; establishing command-and-control centers within them, launching attacks toward IDF forces from them, and imprisoning hostages in them.”
The military said it takes “feasible precautions” to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible and “regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians.”
Palestinians clamber over the rubble, after Israel forces attacked the Khadija school, central Gaza, on July 27, 2024. A leading rights group warned that Israel has damaged or destroyed “virtually all” of Gaza’s schools. – Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli attacks on school shelters in Gaza have killed at least 836 Palestinians and injured another 2,527 people, as of July 18, HRW reported, citing the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
HRW investigated two such attacks where it identified the use of US munitions. The agency said it reviewed satellite imagery, photos, and videos of the attacks and their aftermath, as well as social media and interviews with eyewitnesses.
CNN has previously reported on the use of US weaponry in deadly strikes and has reached out to the State Department for comment on the HRW report.
On July 27, 2024, the Israeli military launched at least three strikes on the Khadija girls’ school in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. At least 15 people were killed.
Then on September 21, Israel struck Al-Zeitoun school, northern Gaza. At least 34 people were killed.
“Can you imagine, a building full of displaced people leveled in the blink of an eye?” a journalist cited in the HRW report said. “I saw people with serious and more minor injuries, and then saw human remains on the ground.”
‘Gaza has become uninhabitable’
The allegations chimed with repeated human rights warnings that Israel’s 22-month bombing and siege has rendered much of the enclave uninhabitable.
HRW said attacks on school shelters have diminished access to refuge, exacerbated reconstruction challenges, and disrupted education among a pre-war population of more than 2.2 million people – where half of those are under the age of 18.
At least 97% of schools in Gaza have sustained damage, the UNICEF-led Education Cluster reported in August. Efforts to rebuild destroyed homes in Gaza could take until 2040, the UN said in May. The level of destruction is so extensive that it would require external assistance on a scale not seen since 1948, the agency added.
At least 61,158 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the Ministry of Health there reported on Wednesday. At least 193 people have starved to death, including 96 children, the ministry added.
One Palestinian student told CNN that days spent going to university have been replaced by a brutal struggle for survival repeated displacement, and severe hunger.
“The war came and destroyed everything,” Raghad Ezzat Hamouda, 20, told CNN on Wednesday.
“I lost my ambitions and dreams,” added Hamouda, who is displaced with nine family members in Tal Al-Hawa, central Gaza. “Gaza has become uninhabitable. (There are) no homes, no schools, no universities, no infrastructure… Just ashes.”
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