Amnesty International Accuses Zionist Entity of War Crimes Amidst Siege on Last Hospital in Northern Gaza
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- As the Zionist occupation forces continue to besiege the Indonesian hospital in Gaza, the last operational medical facility in the northern region, Amnesty International leveled accusations against the Zionist entity on Monday. The international human rights organization condemned the Zionist entity for committing “war crimes” in previous attacks on civilian targets in Gaza, resulting in the death of 46 Palestinian civilians, including 20 children.
Amnesty International focused on two attacks conducted by the Zionist forces on October 19 and 20, targeting a church used as a refuge by hundreds of displaced civilians in Gaza City and a residence in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The most significant casualties included an 80-year-old woman and the youngest victim, a three-month-old child, leading Amnesty International to condemn these attacks as war crimes that demand a thorough investigation.
“The Israeli forces have once again demonstrated frightening disregard for the catastrophic toll on civilian lives caused by their ongoing relentless bombardment in the occupied Gaza Strip,” stated the international human rights organization in its report.
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Director of Global Research, Advocacy, and Policy at Amnesty International, emphasized, “The shocking and unlawful nature of these lethal attacks is part of a documented pattern of disdain for Palestinian civilian populations. The devastating effects of the unprecedented Zionist military assault, where there is no longer any safe haven, are evident.”
In light of the ongoing attacks, Amnesty International called on the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor to take immediate tangible steps to expedite the investigation into war crimes and other violations under international law, initiated in 2021.
The heartbreaking accounts from survivors and the families of victims, describing the devastating human losses from these explosions, provide a brief glimpse into the immense suffering caused by the ongoing Zionist military attacks on civilians in Gaza every day. These narratives underscore the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire.
The organization visited the sites of the attacks, capturing images of the aftermath of each assault. Interviews were conducted with a total of 14 individuals, including 9 survivors, witnesses, relatives of the victims, and two religious leaders. Additionally, the Crisis Response Program’s testing lab, affiliated with Amnesty International, analyzed open-source satellite imagery and audio-visual materials to determine the geographical location of the attacks, cross-referencing and verifying the data against information released by the Israeli army. Questions were directed to the Zionist army’s spokesperson unit on October 30 regarding the attacks on the church and Nuseirat camp, but as of the report’s publication, there has been no response.
The organization further highlighted the lack of “reliable evidence” from the Zionist entity to support the motivations justifying these attacks or the alleged military targets. Instead, conflicting information and contradictory statements from the Zionist military have complicated efforts to ascertain the legality of the strikes.
Amnesty International’s findings are based on extensive documentation of Zionist forces’ previous unlawful attacks during the current escalation, as well as a similar pattern of illegitimate attacks in previous Zionist operations in Gaza. The current level of bombardment in Gaza is unprecedented in its intensity, with civilian casualties, damage to homes, schools, hospitals, and other civilian infrastructure reaching alarming levels.
Erika Guevara-Rosas emphasized, “The organization extensively documented Israeli forces’ blatant disregard for international humanitarian law in previous military operations. However, the severity and cruelty of the current bombardment are unparalleled.”
“The appalling death toll in Gaza – with over 11,000 Palestinians killed in just six weeks, including more than 4,600 children – speaks for itself regarding the extent to which the Israeli forces ordering and executing these attacks respect the lives of the Palestinian people,” added Guevara-Rosas.
Attack on a Church
On October 19, a Zionist airstrike destroyed a building on the grounds of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in the heart of Old Gaza City, where approximately 450 internally displaced individuals from the small Christian community in Gaza sought refuge. The attack resulted in the death of at least 18 civilians and the injury of 12 others. Ramez al-Souri lost his children, an 11-year-old son named Majd, a 12-year-old daughter named Joulie, and a 14-year-old son named Souheil, along with 10 other relatives in the assault. Al-Souri expressed the profound impact of the tragedy, stating, “My heart died with my children that night. They all died.”
“We left our homes and sought refuge in the church because we believed we would find protection here. We have nowhere else to go. The church was filled with peaceful people, only peaceful individuals. There is no safe place in Gaza in this war. Explosions are everywhere, day and night. Every day, more and more civilians are dying. We pray for peace, but our hearts are broken.”
The church served as a shelter for peaceful people seeking protection, as Gaza residents faced relentless bombings day and night. The indiscriminate bombings took a toll on civilians, with increasing casualties. The leader of the church admitted not knowing the reason for the Zionist attack, emphasizing that the church was a place of peace, love, and prayer, questioning the senseless tragedy.
A day after the attack, the Zionist Defense Forces (IDF) posted a video on social media containing drone footage, which was examined by Amnesty International. The footage shows the moment of the airstrike on a building inside the church complex. Several media outlets later reported a statement from the Zionist army, asserting that “IDF fighter jets targeted the command and control center of Hamas “terrorists” involved in “launching rockets”.” It was revealed that a wall of the church in the area sustained damage due to the collision, and the incident is reportedly under investigation.
However, since then, the Zionist military video depicting the attack has been deleted, and the Zionist army or authorities have not provided information confirming the claim that the destroyed church building was a “command and control center” for Hamas. There is also no additional information about the alleged investigation into the attack. A laboratory affiliated with Amnesty International examined videos and images posted on social media immediately after the attack, verified their authenticity, determined their geographical location, and analyzed satellite imagery taken before and after the attack. All of this confirms the destruction of one building and partial damage to another on the church grounds.
An explosion in a refugee camp
Additionally, an arms expert from Amnesty International examined the video footage released by the armed forces, along with other images, and concluded that heavy-caliber ammunition dropped from the air directly hit the building where the victims, including the dead and wounded, had taken refuge. Church officials publicly stated that hundreds of civilians had sought refuge there before the attack, indicating that the military must have been aware of their presence. Amnesty International condemned the Zionist armed forces’ decision to proceed with the attack on a well-known religious site and a location for displaced civilians, asserting that it was a reckless decision and, therefore, constitutes a war crime, even if there was believed to be a military target in the adjacent area.
On October 20, around 2:00 PM local time, 28 civilians, including 12 boys and girls, were killed in a Zionsit airstrike that destroyed the home of the Al-Aidi family and caused severe damage to two neighboring houses in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. This incident occurred in the area where the Zionist forces had ordered residents of northern Gaza to relocate. Rami Al-Aidi, his wife Raneen, and their three children, Ghania (10), Maya (8), and Iyad (6), as well as Zeina Abu Shahada and her sons Amir Al-Aidi (4) and Rakan Al-Aidi (3), and Zeina’s sister and mother, all lost their lives.
Hani Al-Aidi, who survived the attack, told Amnesty International, “We were sitting in the house, full of people, children, and family members. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, everything collapsed on us. All my brothers, my nieces, and my nephews died. My mother died, my sisters died, and our home no longer exists… There is nothing here, and now we have nothing, and we are displaced. I don’t know how things could get worse. Could it get worse?” The attack also caused severe damage and almost complete destruction to the neighboring homes of the Ashram and Abu Zarka families.
The Amnesty International investigation concluded that all individuals in the Al-Aidi family home and the two adjacent houses were civilians. Two members of the Al-Aidi family had obtained permits to work in the Zionist entity, requiring rigorous security checks by the occupying authorities, whether for those receiving the permits or for their extended families. Satellite imagery confirms the destruction, consistent with the airstrike, between October 20 at 11:19 UTC and October 21 at 08:00 UTC, showing severe damage to the area and multiple buildings.
Respect for International Humanitarian Law
All parties to armed conflicts must at all times distinguish between civilians and civilian objects on the one hand and combatants and military objectives on the other. Direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited as they constitute indiscriminate attacks.
Amnesty International emphasizes that when Zionist occupying forces target a military objective, they are obliged to take all feasible precautions to avoid, or at the very least minimize, harm to civilians, damage to civilian property. These precautions include making every effort to verify that the target is a military objective, choosing means and methods of attack that would minimize harm to civilians, assessing whether the attack would be disproportionate, providing effective and advance warning when feasible, and canceling the attack if it proves to be unlawful.
Amnesty International found no indication of military objectives at the two locations where the attacks occurred, nor that the individuals present in the buildings were military targets, raising “concerns” that these attacks may be direct attacks against civilians or civilian property.
Even if there were legitimate military objectives in proximity to the targeted buildings, as highlighted by Amnesty International, “these attacks did not distinguish between military objectives and civilian objects.” The data collected by Amnesty International also indicates that the Zionist occupying army failed to take feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects, including by not providing notice – at least to individuals residing in the affected locations – before launching the attacks.
Indiscriminate attacks that result in the killing or injuring of civilians constitute war crimes. The prolonged pattern of reckless attacks targeting civilian objectives documented by Amnesty International in all ongoing Zionist attacks, as well as during the conflicts of 2008-2009, 2014, and 2021, may amount to directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, which is also considered a war crime.
