Gaza: 26 killed over Eid holiday, UN rights investigators report

The information was provided by its monitors in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) who condemned the increase in Israeli attacks as families prepared to observe Eid al-Adha. 

They said 12 Palestinians were killed in three airstrikes on 26 May, while a teenage girl died of injuries sustained in a strike the previous day that also killed a woman and a young girl, initial reports indicated.

One airstrike killed four men in a camp in Middle Gaza, reportedly after they resisted attempts to search their homes by armed gangs allegedly supported by the Israeli military. Two other men were killed when a strike hit a car in Khan Younis.

The third airstrike, against an apartment in Gaza City, killed a newly appointed commander of the Hamas Al Qassam Brigades, his wife and three children, as well as a woman passerby.

Ten people allegedly affiliated with Al Qassam Brigades were reportedly killed in a strike on 27 May.

Death, displacement and deprivation 

The office noted that Israeli forces have killed 922 Palestinians in attacks since the announcement of the ceasefire in October, bringing the overall death toll since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks to nearly 73,000, according to local authorities. 

At least 32 children and eight women have been killed in attacks since the truce. 

Meanwhile, Palestinians are still being deprived of adequate shelter, essential medicines, food and other necessities as the blockade on Gaza continues, it said.  

Nearly the entire population remains displaced and concentrated “into a progressively narrower strip of land”, with multiple displacement orders issued in recent days. 

Dire conditions, ‘unthinkable’ attacks 

The rights investigators also addressed the announcement on Thursday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has directed Israeli forces to expand their deployment to cover 70 per cent of Gaza’s territory. 

They said the continued contraction of areas available to civilians raises questions around access to humanitarian assistance and finding safety. 

Ajith Sunghay, head of the human rights office in the OPT, said its concern over the commission of war crimes in Gaza has not stopped. 

“It is difficult enough to navigate life in chronic displacement in the ruins of Gaza, under blockade, and after Israeli attacks virtually destroyed every essential system: healthcare, education, food production, law enforcement and civil order,” he said. 

“Continuing military attacks on a population living under these conditions is unthinkable.”  

Airstrike near aid facilities 

Separately, UN aid coordination office OCHA said that an airstrike on Thursday hit a residential area near five humanitarian facilities in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.  No casualties were reported. 

The development followed an order from the Israeli military to shelter in place shortly before the strike. 

OCHA continues to call for the opening of more crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to be let in as only one, Kerem Shalom, remains operational. 

Humanitarian partners provided mental health and psychosocial support, as well as other protection, to more than 10,000 people between 11-17 May.     

These services – including recreational activities, art and drama sessions, counselling and parenting support – were provided in shelters, camps, schools and displacement sites.   

“Partners reiterate that to continue these services – particularly for children and adolescents – fuel, safe spaces, staff and other basic resources are needed,” OCHA said.