Israel Intensifies Genocidal Campaign in Gaza

Israel has intensified its genocidal campaign in Gaza through one of the most extensive and lethal assaults since the beginning of its offensive, committing massacres and adopting a scorched-earth policy involving the total destruction of remaining neighbourhoods and infrastructure. 

This approach follows a pattern sustained for over 19 months, characterised by mass killings, starvation, and the systematic destruction of all means of survival, with the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians in their homes, shelters, and vital facilities, all aimed at erasing Palestinian society in Gaza and eliminating any prospect of its return or reconstruction.

In recent days, Israeli occupation forces have escalated their assault across various areas of the Gaza Strip, carrying out systematic destruction of what remains of homes and civilian infrastructure, and committing mass killings of the population. This forms part of a policy designed to destroy all aspects of life, depopulate the area, and prevent the continued existence of its residents— a prelude to the imposition of a colonial reality by force, based on the erasure of the indigenous population and the de facto annexation of the territory to Israel, in grave violation of international law, including the prohibition on annexing land by force.

Euro-Med Monitor’s field team documented the killing of more than 115 Palestinians in the northern Gaza governorate alone in less than 12 hours since dawn on Friday. The casualties followed Israeli airstrikes on at least 10 residential homes in Tel al-Zaatar (Jabalia) and Al-Salatin neighbourhood (Beit Lahia).

These homes were completely destroyed with residents inside, resulting in the deaths of dozens of civilians, including women and children, in what amounts to a series of mass killings reflecting an escalating pattern of systematic violence against civilians in the Strip.

More than half of the victims remain trapped beneath the rubble, as rescue and civil defence teams are unable to reach them due to the lack of resources and equipment. Meanwhile, dozens of bodies and wounded individuals have overwhelmed the corridors of the Indonesian Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital, highlighting the complete collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system.

Limited incursions by Israeli ground forces were reported from two directions, north of Beit Lahia and east of Jabalia, under heavy artillery and air cover. There is growing concern that these ground operations could expand, placing hundreds of thousands of civilians, already living in tents under continuous bombardment, hunger, and daily violence, at even greater risk.

In addition, Israeli artillery targeted Palestinian civilians as they attempted to flee and search for shelter following repeated waves of bombardment. These attacks resulted in the killing of 10 people in the Al-Dur al-Gharbi area of Beit Lahia, and 8 more in the Azbet Abd Rabbo area of Jabalia.

Over the past two days, Israeli forces have systematically destroyed a large number of partially damaged residential buildings in northern Gaza, in what appears to be a continuation of a broad campaign to obliterate entire urban areas, specifically targeting civilian population centres.

In recent days, the Israeli army has adopted a scorched-earth policy east of Khan Younis, while continuing its destruction of entire neighbourhoods in Rafah. Civilian Israeli contractors have also taken part in this effort, reflecting a deliberate intent to erase the city from the map.

These developments represent the practical implementation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statements, in which he declared: “We will continue destroying Gaza’s homes until the Palestinians have no shelter left, and nothing remains but for them to leave. The only problem is finding countries willing to take them.”

This statement constitutes a clear admission from Israel’s highest political authority of an intent to uproot an entire population, an intent now being realised on the ground through the systematic destruction of all means of survival.

The recent massacres, particularly in Khan Younis and northern Gaza, mark a dangerous escalation in the targeting of civilians. Israel is deploying overwhelming and indiscriminate firepower without justification or the presence of active combat, strongly indicating that civilians themselves are the direct targets— a grave violation of international law.

The widespread destruction policy carried out by Israel cannot be classified as serving any legitimate military objective. Rather, it constitutes part of a deliberate and systematic approach to genocide, aimed at dismantling Palestinian society in Gaza,physically and demographically, by stripping it of the means to survive, eliminating it entirely, and preventing any future return.

The international community must act urgently to stop this ongoing genocide, initiate serious investigations into the crimes committed, and take effective measures to ensure the protection of civilians and bring an end to the culture of impunity that has emboldened Israel to commit grave violations without accountability.

The international community must impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel for its systematic and grave violations of international law. This includes banning the export of weapons or dual-use items to Israel, prohibiting the purchase of such items from it, halting all forms of political, financial, and military support and cooperation, freezing the financial assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians, imposing travel bans on them, and suspending trade privileges and bilateral agreements that grant Israel economic advantages enabling it to continue committing crimes against the Palestinian people.

States must also launch criminal investigations into Israeli and international companies involved in supplying the Israeli military with weapons and heavy equipment used in carrying out acts of genocide. This includes bulldozers, surveillance systems, and spyware used to track and target civilians. Public and private investments in these companies must be withdrawn, and the companies themselves must be blacklisted nationally and internationally.

States with universal jurisdiction laws must issue arrest warrants for Israeli political and military officials implicated in the crime of genocide and initiate legal proceedings — even in absentia — under their international legal obligations to prosecute such crimes and combat impunity.

An independent international mechanism must be established to preserve evidence related to the crime of genocide in Gaza. This body should document and safeguard digital evidence, satellite imagery, and testimonies from victims and survivors for use before international judicial bodies, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC must expedite its investigations and issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials responsible for international crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. It must acknowledge and treat Israel’s actions as acts of genocide without equivocation. Member states of the Rome Statute must be reminded of their legal obligations to fully cooperate with the Court, ensure the enforcement of its arrest warrants, bring the perpetrators to international justice, and end the cycle of impunity.

EuroMed Human Rights Monitor

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Related Posts

Hiding The Evidence: Israel Removes Mass Debris Via 100 Trucks Daily

Euromed stated that Israel is seeking to hide the evidence of genocide in Gaza Strip by removing the rubble and wreckage of destroyed buildings and the remains of missing persons underneath them through transport via 100 trucks daily.

In a press statement reported by the Sanad News Agency, Monday, the European-Mediternean human rights organization explained that the Israeli occupation is unilaterally carrying out a systematic operation to remove the rubble in areas under its military control and is transport it out of the Gaza Strip to obliterate evidence the criminal evidence it carried out in Gaza since 7 October, 2023.

Euromed,  officially named he Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, has indicated that initial estimates suggest Israel wants to remove about 10 million tons of rubble in the so-called Yellow Line areas which is under Israeli military control.

Euromed emphasized that its estimates that are 400 Israeli vehicles involved the removal of the rubble, besides the 100 trucks who are transporting the debris to unknown locations inside Israel.

It pointed out that the rubble that is being removed and transported focuses on sites where murders have taken places and where mass graves exist. It warned that “removing it separates physical evidence from its spatial context.”

Euromed added: The remains of some 8,500 missing persons are being crushed and mixed with rubble due to the use of crushers without forensic investigation. Meanwhile, the removed rubble contains property and essential building materials, and removing it without compensating its owners constitutes confiscation and looting, which is prohibited under international law.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the international community to intervene urgently, halt the rubble removal, and send international investigation teams to inspect and document the sites of destruction.

The amount of rubble and debris accumulated in the Gaza Strip by the first half of 2026 is estimated at approximately 60 million tons (other UN estimates put the figure at 68 million tons), following the complete or partial destruction of more than 80% of buildings and infrastructure.

Official statistics issued by the Government Media Office in Gaza indicate that more than 80% of buildings in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged, while the area is covered by approximately 60 to 70 million tons of rubble.

See Full Report Below:

The Israeli forces, along with Israeli civilian contractors, are conducting a wide and organised operation to process and clear the rubble from neighbourhoods and facilities they have destroyed in the Gaza Strip and relocate it from areas under their military control to outside the Strip.

This is occurring without any official record of the quantities removed or independent oversight, and before international and local investigative committees have had the chance to survey, examine, and document the sites. This risks destroying crucial evidence of genocide and the remains of victims still unaccounted for under the rubble.

These operations are not part of organised humanitarian efforts to rescue the missing, open roads, or prepare for reconstruction. Instead, Israel is acting unilaterally within closed areas under its military control by demolishing remaining buildings and then crushing, mixing, and transporting the rubble before forensic teams, evidence experts, and unexploded ordnance specialists can examine, document, and preserve the sites, along with the evidence and human remains.

The Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment, published jointly by the World Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union in April 2026, estimated that approximately 68 million tonnes of rubble are spread across the Gaza Strip, based on damage reports up to October 2025. This figure does not necessarily account for damage caused by later demolition and destruction operations.

According to its initial field data, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimates that at least 10 million tonnes of rubble have been removed, crushed, or moved from their original sites within the areas under Israel’s unlawful military control, which encompass about 66 per cent of the Gaza Strip.

Approximately 400 heavy pieces of excavation, demolition, crushing, and transport machinery, operated by Israeli civilian companies under military protection, are active across eastern and southern Gaza. They demolish remaining structures, crush rubble from destroyed neighbourhoods, and load the debris onto trucks for transportation away from the original sites.

In recent weeks, Euro-Med Monitor tracked nearly 100 Israeli trucks daily leaving the Gaza Strip with debris. These trucks carry rubble to undisclosed sites within Israel and further south of the occupied West Bank. The Israeli authorities have not provided details on the quantities removed, the routes taken, the destination sites, or how the material is utilised. They also have not permitted independent oversight of the sorting, weighing, or transport processes. This lack of transparency makes it very difficult to trace the transported material, identify evidence, or recover any human remains that might be present.

The systematic removal of rubble at this pace conceals the evidence of appalling crimes Israel committed in Gaza, especially those related to genocide, such as summary executions and killing unarmed civilians. These sites need careful examination and thorough criminal investigation before any intervention that might change or erase their features.

The debris scattered throughout the Gaza Strip includes possible locations of unlawful killings and bombings that targeted entire families, as well as sites believed to contain mass graves or bodies buried within destroyed homes, hospitals, shelters, and civilian facilities.

These sites hold evidence critical for identifying the weapon, attack sequence, victim and attacker positions, firing ranges, cause and manner of death, as well as fragments, projectiles, spent cartridges, biological traces, and personal belongings.

Crushing, mixing, and transporting rubble can erase evidence, location details, and connections within the crime scene. This process also disrupts the chain of custody, potentially making it impossible to trace where evidence was collected or to link it to a particular incident or victim. This damage cannot be reversed by aerial photographs or subsequent testimony, as investigating international crimes also requires tangible evidence that can be examined, compared, and legally verified.

These operations pose a direct risk to the remains of thousands of missing persons, estimated by Gaza’s Civil Defence to be around 8,500 in July 2026. Using crushers and heavy machinery without prior forensic and humanitarian surveys could crush or scatter the remains, mix them with rubble, and separate them from belongings and documents vital for victim identification. This process may also lead to transporting the remains to unknown locations that may become impossible to access later.

This conduct infringes on the families’ right to know the fate of their missing relatives and to recover and bury their remains with dignity. It also contradicts international standards that call for searching for the deceased, collecting and safeguarding information about them, and ensuring proper identification and recording. Additionally, removing sites before investigation breaches the guidelines outlined in the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death. This protocol emphasises securing and documenting the scene, gathering evidence while preserving its chain of custody, and recovering and examining remains with scientific methods that uphold the victims’ dignity and their family’s rights.

The debris in the Gaza Strip comprises more than just rubble; it includes private and public property, essential building materials like steel, stone, and concrete that can be recycled and reused, as well as other valuable assets necessary for Palestinians to reconstruct their homes, roads, and infrastructure. It may also contain property documents, official records, and personal belongings that are part of individuals’ and families’ rights and memories.

Removing rubble from the Gaza Strip and commercially exploiting it without the owners’ consent or compensation may, depending on the circumstances and intent of the seizure, constitute unlawful confiscation or pillage. Such acts are prohibited under international humanitarian law, especially Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute.

These actions are part of a broader pattern that has involved bulldozing sites believed to contain mass graves, storming and damaging hospitals and medical facilities after they were suspected of being sites of grave crimes, ongoing demolition of buildings in military-controlled zones, and targeting Palestinian journalists. Additionally, international investigators and independent media have been prevented from accessing the most heavily destroyed areas.

This deliberate removal of evidence occurs when the International Criminal Court (ICC) is still investigating crimes in Palestine, alongside other cases under universal jurisdiction in national courts. Destroying crime scenes before investigations are finished hampers legal accountability and complicates efforts by international investigators and prosecutors to establish facts, as vital evidence may be lost once removed from the Gaza Strip.

Moreover, Article 70(1)(c) of the Rome Statute considers “destroying, tampering with or interfering with the collection of evidence” as criminal acts that hinder the ICC’s justice mission when done deliberately. The ICC Prosecutor should investigate these actions as deliberate interference with evidence collection related to the ongoing investigation into the Situation in the State of Palestine, which also includes unlawful destruction, seizure, or pillage of property.

The large-scale crushing and removal of rubble not only destroys evidence but also erases land boundaries, house foundations, street networks, and neighbourhood features. This process strips Palestinians of the physical markers of ownership and their connection to the land, making it more difficult for them to return and rebuild their communities as they once were.

Transforming forcibly depopulated Palestinian towns and neighbourhoods into levelled, open spaces under Israeli control is a concrete act that deepens the displacement and ethnic cleansing. This process is inseparable from Israeli settler colonialism, which involves uprooting Palestinians, erasing signs of their presence, and redefining the land without them. This sets the stage for Israel’s efforts to re-establish settlements in Gaza and displace Palestinian residents, advancing a new phase of colonisation and the ongoing denial of land and the right of return.

The international community, including the Security Council, the UN General Assembly, and states parties to the Rome Statute, must urgently intervene to halt the systematic removal and transport of rubble from the Gaza Strip. They should also advocate for independent international forensic and criminal investigation teams to be granted access to assess and document the destruction sites before any further removal or transport occurs, ensuring that physical evidence is preserved to hold those responsible for genocide accountable.

Euro-Med Monitor urges the international community to push Israel to immediately and fully stop all rubble removal and transport activities. This includes requiring detailed disclosures of transported materials, weighing logs, truck routes, ultimate destinations, company and contractor names, beneficiary parties, payment information, machinery and truck registration numbers, and tracking data, as well as transparency regarding any sale, recycling, or commercial use of materials extracted from Gaza.

Furthermore, removing rubble or recyclable materials from the Gaza Strip should be prohibited until a transparent Palestinian and international system for managing these materials is put in place. This system should ensure that any unlawfully transported materials are either returned or their full value is compensated to the owners. Additionally, rubble suitable for reuse should be allocated to local reconstruction projects that benefit the Palestinian population and protect individual and public property rights.

States where the implicated companies or machinery manufacturers are based should mandate a halt to any actions that could lead to property demolition, evidence removal, or rubble seizure. They must also preserve all relevant contracts, correspondence, and operational data, and carry out independent investigations into the accountability of their directors and staff. Euro-Med Monitor urges targeted measures against individuals and companies found to have known about and taken part in these illegal activities, such as exclusion from public contracts, freezing assets, and criminal prosecution.

Any efforts to remove rubble or rebuild in the Gaza Strip must be led by Palestinians, involving local residents, property owners, and families of the missing. These initiatives should ensure the protection of evidence, recovery of remains, clearance of unexploded ordnance, sorting of hazardous materials, local reuse of rubble, preservation of property maps and urban fabric, and prevent reconstruction from being used to cement control or alter the enclave’s geographic or demographic makeup.

Euro-Med Monitor affirms that a ceasefire or political agreements do not erase crimes or their evidence. Reconstruction and rubble removal should happen alongside preserving evidence, discovering the fate of the missing, recovering property, holding perpetrators accountable, and ensuring victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparation.

Continue reading
Israeli Bullet Rips a Child’s Hand in a Gaza Classroom

CROSSFIREARABIA – A bulled fired by an Israeli soldier pierced through the hand of a pupil in-the-sixth grade and lodged into his wrist. The incident occurred on Monday while the pupil was sitting in class in school in Gaza City according to the Education Ministry. It said the boys name was Khaled Al Ashram from Al Sawafir School in the west of Gaza City. “The bulled pierced the small hand of the child while he was sitting at a school desk holding his open,” a Ministry statement emphasized. In its statement the Ministry included a photo showing the hand of the child pierced by the bullet and covered in blood according to Anadolu.

Continue reading

You Missed

Hiding The Evidence: Israel Removes Mass Debris Via 100 Trucks Daily

  • By marwan
  • August 3, 2026
  • 8 views
Hiding The Evidence: Israel Removes Mass Debris Via 100 Trucks Daily

Israeli Bullet Rips a Child’s Hand in a Gaza Classroom

Israeli Bullet Rips a Child’s Hand in a Gaza Classroom

Hebrew Study: Those Leaving Israel Soars Sky High

Hebrew Study: Those Leaving Israel Soars Sky High

Abdul Salam Haniyeh: ‘My Father Was an Educator, Leader, a Friend’

Abdul Salam Haniyeh: ‘My Father Was an Educator, Leader, a Friend’

Israel Disappointed as Trump Backs Away From Iran Hit – Al Jazeera

  • By marwan
  • August 2, 2026
  • 15 views
Israel Disappointed as Trump Backs Away From Iran Hit – Al Jazeera

‘You Can’t Break Gaza’

  • By marwan
  • August 2, 2026
  • 11 views
‘You Can’t Break Gaza’