Israeli attacks kill dozens in Gaza as election campaign begins
Al Jazeera reports at least 57 Palestinians were killed in a week as Israeli ministers advanced settlement plans and new West Bank restrictions.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
4 min read
Israeli attacks killed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza in the week after Israel’s parliament dissolved and set an October election, according to Al Jazeera and UN officials. The violence came as Israeli ministers advanced settlement-related measures in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s parliament dissolved itself on July 17 and scheduled elections for October 27, Al Jazeera reported. Hours later, an Israeli drone hit mourners outside the Ahmad Yassin Mosque in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least eight people during a funeral for a man killed earlier that day, according to the outlet.
The UN human rights office said Israeli attacks killed at least 57 Palestinians between July 13 and July 20, including six children and eight women. The office said the pattern raised concerns about possible violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and other atrocity crimes in Gaza.
Families killed in Gaza strikes
Al Jazeera reported several attacks on homes and displaced families during the week. On July 15, an Israeli helicopter attack in Deir el-Balah killed Omar Sami Abu Qassem, his wife Asmaa Ghazi and their six-year-old daughter Habiba; their three-year-old son survived.
On July 18, an Israeli warplane struck a residential building in Gaza City’s Nassr neighbourhood, killing Adham Nasman, his wife Marwa and three of their children, according to Al Jazeera. Israel said Nasman was a Hamas commander, while Al Jazeera reported that Hamas had not confirmed that claim.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli artillery killed Rida Abu Asr in Zeitoun as tanks moved toward Dawla Junction. Wafa also reported an Israeli attack on a checkpoint that killed seven police officers, including Jabalia’s police station director, and repeated strikes on tents sheltering displaced families in al-Mawasi.
Medical officials said an overnight Israeli air attack on July 21 killed Firas al-Masri, his wife Salsabeel and their four children as they slept in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz told Channel 14 during a visit to northern Gaza that he felt satisfaction at destruction he described as the result of deliberate Israeli policy, Al Jazeera reported. Katz also said Israel was examining the creation of three military-style settlement outposts in northern Gaza.
Al Jazeera said the Nachala settler movement marched to the Gaza border on Sunday with support from right-wing Israelis and participation by more than a dozen ministers and legislators, including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. The march called for Israeli settlements to be re-established inside Gaza.
Settlement plans advance in the West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, Israel’s security cabinet approved 1.3 billion shekels, or $426.3m, to establish 34 new settlements, Al Jazeera reported. Wafa said Israel also approved 1.075 billion shekels, or $352.5m, for settler road infrastructure.
Smotrich called the road funding a “settlement and security revolution”, according to Al Jazeera, and said it was aimed at establishing more than 100 settlements and 160 agricultural and pastoral outposts.
The Atuf Village Council said Israeli forces and settlers destroyed three artesian wells near Atuf, seized pumps and generators, and cut about 800 metres of pipeline serving 4,500 dunams of farmland, Al Jazeera reported. In Masafer Yatta, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission linked demolition and stop-work orders in Ad-Deirat and Ar Rifaiyya to a planned settlement road beside Route 356.
Al Jazeera also reported that 17-year-old Palestinian youth footballer Fadi al-Naasan died on July 18 from wounds sustained during a settler-and-army raid on al-Mughayyir a week earlier. In Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, Ahmad Abu Makhou, 26, and Odeh Farakhna, 53, were killed by gunfire during a military raid and attempted settler theft of sheep, with witnesses giving conflicting accounts on who fired the fatal shots, according to Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack.
Al Jazeera reported that Hamas elected Khalil al-Hayya as head of its political bureau on July 20, ending nearly two years of collective leadership after Yahya Sinwar’s killing. It also said Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition pushed through legislation including a Communications Law giving the government control over broadcast media and protections for ultra-Orthodox men from conscription.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.