An investigation conducted by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory showed that the Israeli occupation army committed a massacre last November, when it bombed a densely populated residential square in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip with bombs with enormous destructive power, which led to the death of about 120 Palestinians, most of them from one family.
The investigation – which took several months and was based on multiple field visits to the site of the targeting, testimonies of survivors, eyewitnesses, and satellite images – revealed that the Israeli air attacks were carried out with American weapons, and targeted the residential square known as the Al Abu Eida square, which includes residential buildings housing hundreds of civilians and displaced persons.
The Observatory said – in the results of the investigation published today, Thursday – that the incident that occurred on November 1, 2023 represents a war crime and a full-fledged crime against humanity committed by the Israeli army against civilians, as part of its large-scale military attack launched against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Gaza, which represents part of the broader crime of genocide committed against the Palestinians since October 7, according to the Observatory.
The Observatory estimated the number of residents who were in the area at the time of its targeting at more than 500 people, the majority of whom were from the Abu Eida family. This number includes residents residing in the area, in addition to displaced people who have taken refuge there.
Investigation details
In the details of the investigation, at approximately 12:30 a.m. and without warning, Israeli army aircraft dropped between 6 and 8 bombs with a high destructive capacity on Al Abu Eida Square, targeting adjacent residential buildings ranging in height from one to five floors, in addition to… Kindergarten.
Within seconds, buildings were razed to the ground, and other buildings were subjected to major destruction. The targeting caused massive destruction in the area and damage to surrounding buildings, in addition to large holes in the ground, of which at least 3 were visible, reaching a depth of about 2.5 meters, and some of them reaching a diameter of about 10 meters. Meters.
The Israeli army claimed at the time that its aircraft targeted a command and control center affiliated with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Jabalia, and eliminated members of the movement. It also claimed that it had urged the residents of the neighborhood to leave in order to mitigate the damage to civilians, as it put it.
However, investigations conducted by the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory denied the existence of any prior warnings by the Israeli army, according to the testimonies of all survivors and eyewitnesses. This was also confirmed by the Observatory team’s examination of the phones of some residents of the area, where it was found that there were no notifications or messages asking them to leave before the targeting.
Likewise, all the people interviewed by the Observatory team denied seeing any armed elements or the occurrence of any military clashes in the area prior to the targeting.
The Observatory said that it did not find any evidence of the presence of military targets or armed elements in the vicinity of the targeted residential square at the time of the Israeli attack.
Weapon used
As for the weapons used, the investigation showed that there was consistency between the weapons used in the attacks that occurred in Jabalia on October 31 and November 1, and similarity in sizes, patterns of destruction, and the effects they left.
Many weapons experts and inspectors concluded that they were JDAM bombs, or GBU 31 or GBU 56, which weighed approximately two thousand pounds (900 pounds). kilograms), which is one of the weapons that the United States supplies to the Israeli army, either through export or local manufacture with a license from it.
The investigation by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor concluded that the attack carried out by the Israeli army on the Al Abu Eida square was either direct intentionality or excessive randomness, both of which constitute a full-fledged war crime according to the Rome Statute.
This targeting also constitutes a full-fledged crime against humanity committed by the Israeli army against a group of civilians, because it was carried out within the framework of the widespread and systematic military attack launched by the Israeli army against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, according to the results of the investigation.
