Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the escalation by Israeli occupation forces of crimes targeting civilians in the Gaza Strip and their deliberate infliction of casualties and destruction of properties through bombardment and gunfire directed at civilian gatherings in homes, streets, markets, and places of displacement; the targeting and arrest of Palestinian fishermen along the coast; and the issuance of evacuation orders for several areas, which has contributed to spreading panic and fear among the population. At the same time, the deliberate and systematic destruction of infrastructure, facilities, and civilian properties continues, alongside the ongoing policy of tightening restrictions on the entry of humanitarian and relief assistance into the Gaza Strip.
According to field information, at approximately 17:20 on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, an Israeli airstrike targeted a tent built on the rubble of a house belonging to the Saad family in the vicinity of Al-Mufti School, north of Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. The attack resulted in the killing of one civilian and the injury of 11 others. At approximately the same time, child Obeida Al-Sheikh Eid was killed after Israeli military vehicles opened fire on tents housing displaced persons in the “Bir 19” area, southwest of Khan Younis. In the morning, at approximately 10:00, elderly man Fathi Abu Ayyada was killed after Israeli forces opened fire on him in the “Al Maslakh” area, south of Khan Younis.
Citizen (A.Z.), a resident of the Batn Al-Sameen area who is displaced in the Al-Maqaber (Al-Maslakh) area in Khan Younis, stated:
“I live with my family in a tent, together with my elderly mother and father. For several days, we have been directly subjected to gunfire from Israeli military vehicles, particularly at night. We all sleep close to one another out of fear. Every day, there is gunfire that hits the tents in the camp where we are staying, and the gunfire hits children, women, and men. There is no safe place. We have been displaced several times, and each time the danger to us has been greater.”
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, five Palestinians were killed and 30 injured and admitted to hospitals in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours. The number of Palestinians killed since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in Sharm El-Sheikh and its entry into force on 11 October 2025 has risen to 1,352, while 4,511 others have been injured.[1]
During the morning of Tuesday, 8 September 2026, Israeli military vehicles advanced into the vicinity of the Abu Al-Ajeen and Wadi Al-Salqa areas, south of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, and carried out demolitions of civilians’ homes in the area. At approximately 12:49 p.m. on the same day, an Israeli warplane bombed a house belonging to the Farwana family in the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in Gaza City, resulting in several injuries. At approximately 13:47 on the same day, Israeli warplanes targeted a house located in the Batn Al-Sameen area in southern Gaza following an evacuation warning for the area, resulting in several injuries.
Evacuation warnings were subsequently issued simultaneously for several areas in Gaza City and central and southern Gaza. The Israeli army contacted residents in one of these areas, creating a state of fear and panic among civilians and forcing them to flee in search of safe areas. At approximately 15:02, Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike targeting a house belonging to the Al-Sarraj family in Block (7) of Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in central Gaza, resulting in several injuries. At approximately 15:20, an agricultural plot of land on Street (10) in Sheikh Ajleen, west of Gaza City, was targeted, while another airstrike simultaneously targeted a house belonging to the Baroud family in Al-Shati Refugee Camp. At approximately 16:50 on the same day, following a call to one of the residents, Israeli warplanes fired three missiles at the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City.
(A.D.), a displaced person in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, stated:
“My family and I have been displaced several times across different areas. We eventually settled in a room in a destroyed house in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital, west of Gaza City. On Tuesday evening, 8 September 2026, residents in our area received several calls from the occupation forces ordering us to evacuate the area. My family, the residents, and I were overcome with severe fear and panic. I began gathering my important belongings, and the residents and I moved away from the area and waited in the streets for several hours. Then I began hearing explosions. They were enormous, and the ground was shaking beneath our feet. I saw smoke and dust rising near our area. After the bombardment, we returned when the airstrikes had ended, and I found all my belongings scattered on the floor due to the force of the explosion in the room where I was staying. I also saw several houses that had been completely destroyed and reduced to rubble near us.”
Israeli occupation forces have also escalated their ongoing crimes against Palestinian fishermen while they carry out their fishing activities in areas close to the shores of the Gaza Strip. These violations have included killing, injuring, arresting fishermen, and preventing them from pursuing their profession. Israeli forces opened fire on fishermen while they were carrying out their work off the coast of Gaza City at dawn on Monday, 7 August 2026, resulting in the injury of three fishermen. Israeli warships continue to open fire towards the western Gaza shoreline.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the escalation of Israeli crimes; the targeting of civilians and the killing and injury of Palestinians; the targeting of civilian properties and infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip; the advance beyond the Yellow Line and the continued indiscriminate firing at civilians and their properties; the targeting and persecution of fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip; and the further deterioration of humanitarian conditions as a form of collective punishment and as one of the manifestations of the genocide being perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces through the continued prevention of humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, the continued systematic starvation of civilians, and the deterioration of the health situation through preventing the entry of necessary medical equipment and supplies.
The Center stresses that Israeli occupation forces, through their continued perpetration of genocide in Gaza, continue to disregard international resolutions and fail to comply with the declared obligations and understandings aimed at ending the war and protecting civilians, including the Cairo Understandings. The systematic continuation of these crimes and the prevailing impunity constitute a challenge to the rule of international law and require effective and urgent international action to ensure that Israeli occupation forces comply with the rules of international humanitarian law and cease their genocide, provide effective protection to civilians, and establish mechanisms for accountability and prosecution for the crimes committed, thereby ensuring the protection of civilians.
Accordingly, the Center calls on the international community to take urgent and effective action to halt the ongoing and escalating massacres, exert pressure on Israeli occupation forces to stop the crime of genocide, allow the entry of humanitarian aid, fuel, and medical equipment, and provide protection to civilians who have been subjected to genocide before the eyes and ears of the world for the third consecutive year.
