Gaza: Amnesty calls for probe into three horrific attacks by Israel

Three Israeli airstrikes in the center and south of the Gaza Strip killed 44 Palestinian civilians, including 32 children, in April, according to Amnesty International, which has called on the ICC to open a “war crimes” investigation.

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According to the NGO, the strikes took place on April 16 in Al Makhsi refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, and on April 19 and 20 in Rafah, in the south.

“These devastating strikes destroyed families and took the lives of 32 children,” Amnesty official Erica Guevara-Rosas said in a press release, adding that the NGO’s investigation “provides essential evidence pointing to illegal attacks attributed to the Israeli military.

Amnesty interviewed 17 survivors and witnesses, visited hospitals where the wounded were being treated, and photographed fragments of explosives. In all three cases, “there is no evidence of military targets in or around the locations targeted by the Israeli military,” it said, adding that it has yet to receive answers to its questions from the Israeli military.

According to Amnesty, an April 16 strike in Al Makhazi hit a street where children were playing table football, killing 10 people between the ages of 4 and 15 and five men.

In Rafah, on April 19, an airstrike hit the home of retired civil servant Abu Ratwan, killing nine family members, including six children, according to Amnesty.

On April 20, a strike destroyed the Abdelal family home in eastern Rafah, killing 20 people – 16 children and four women – and injuring two children.

“The International Criminal Court (ICC) should open a war crimes investigation into these three strikes,” writes Amnesty.

The war began on October 7 in the Gaza Strip after an unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas commandos in Israel killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on figures from Israeli officials.

The Israeli military said 121 hostages were still being held in Gaza, 37 of whom had been killed.

In response, Israel launched a devastating attack on Palestinian territory that killed at least 35,984 people, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry.