Translated Content:
The genocide continues: Our colleague, lawyer Dana Yaghi, and her family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a home housing displaced persons in Deir al-Balah.
Palestinian human rights organizations condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip and the killing of our colleague, lawyer Dana Yaghi from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and several members of her family in an airstrike targeting a home they had fled to in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip. This comes as part of the occupation's continued bombing of residential homes in areas previously declared safe zones.
According to information gathered by our researchers, at approximately 8:00 pm on Thursday, February 22, 2024, Israeli aircraft bombed a three-story home belonging to the Yaghi family near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, destroying it and killing its residents, including internally displaced persons from Gaza City. This resulted in the martyrdom of 40 civilians, including 15 women and 10 children. Among the martyrs was also Dana Mashaal Yaghi, a 27-year-old lawyer from the Women's Unit at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. She represented women in Sharia courts, amplified their voices, and tirelessly participated in lobbying and advocacy activities to defend women's rights. Dana was martyred along with all her family members, while only her brother Abdullah survived, sustaining serious injuries. Our colleague Dana was a resident of the Tel al-Hawa area in Gaza City. She was displaced to her aunt's house in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, following Israeli displacement orders several months ago. She found herself, her family, and the displaced people with her directly targeted. This is further evidence of the Israeli war machine's desecration of civilians, both male and female, and the extermination of hundreds of families in the Gaza Strip, including areas declared safe by Israel, the occupying power, to which hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Israel has not excluded anyone, including human rights defenders and their families, most of whom have become actual victims of this aggression, through targeting, destruction, and forced displacement, just like their people, as part of the ongoing crime of genocide against the Palestinian people. *In this context, we offer our condolences to ourselves and our colleagues for the martyrdom of our colleagues Dana and Nour, who were killed last week in an attack on their family home. Both were staff members of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.*
At approximately 7:00 PM on Friday, February 23, 2024, Israeli warplanes bombed the third floor of the apartment of journalist and artist Mahmoud Abu Zuaiter in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip. This resulted in the complete destruction of three residential units and the severe damage to one unit. Twenty-six residents were killed, the majority of whom were women and children, all of whom were internally displaced persons. Approximately 20 others were injured. It is worth noting that Abu Zuaiter was among the first to provide aid to those affected, including toys for children who were victims of the aggression, and he also provided positive content on social media platforms. According to an update issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza on Saturday afternoon, February 24, 2024, the Israeli occupation committed eight "massacres" (targeting) attacks against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, killing 92 people and wounding 123. This brings the death toll from the aggression since October 7 to 29,606, with 69,737 injuries, 70% of whom are children and women.
Our organizations renew their call to the international community, especially the permanent members of the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to take immediate measures to ensure the protection of hundreds of civilians, prevent a new Nakba in Palestine, and halt the genocide against the Palestinian people. Our organizations also warn Israel's partners in the crime of genocide, whether through their unlimited military and political support for the occupying state or their silence, and demand that they fulfill their legal obligations before it is too late. We demand that they take practical steps to protect Palestinian civilians, halt the mass killings, and prevent the continuation of the genocide, which continues in its fifth month. We call on the international community to take serious and immediate action to halt the Israeli military aggression on the Gaza Strip, compel Israel, the occupying power, to cease its policy of targeting civilians and civilian objects as a tool of revenge, punishment, and political pressure, and to take effective measures to ensure accountability for the war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied Palestinian territory. We emphasize the need to end the occupation, dismantle Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid, abolish all discriminatory and inhumane laws, policies, and practices against the entire Palestinian people, and enable the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and the unconditional return of refugees.
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