Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns the continued crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, including the escalating targeting of civilians and displaced persons in residential homes, shelters, tents, and civilian gatherings, as well as the continued bombing of residential homes over the heads of their inhabitants during the night and the continued targeting of women. Most recently, an Israeli airstrike targeted a home in western Gaza City, killing five civilians, including four women, among them a woman and her daughter from Gaza’s Christian community, and injuring a large number of others. Al Mezan stresses that the continued targeting of women and civilians reveals a persistent pattern of attacks carried out in the context of the ongoing genocide and aimed at inflicting the greatest possible losses among the civilian population.
According to field information, at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, 3 October 2026, Israeli occupation forces fired several missiles at a residential apartment located on the ground floor of Al-Asala Building, opposite Al-Yazji Bakery, near Haidar Roundabout in western Gaza City. The attack killed five civilians, including four women: Maria Hafez Al-Najjar Abu Daoud, 36; her mother, Maysaa Khader Abu Daoud, 55, both members of Gaza City’s Christian community; Dr. Yasmeen Al-Boubou, 48; and Haloum Al-Boubou, 23. Others were injured. The bombardment also caused extensive destruction and left dozens of people injured in surrounding homes.
Regarding the incident, a resident, identified as (K.A.), from the vicinity of Gaza Port, stated:
“We were asleep when we suddenly woke up to the sound of a huge explosion nearby that rattled the entire area. We waited for a while until people began coming out, and I went outside. I saw dust filling the area and smoke rising from Al-Asala residential building. The building had caught fire. Residents tried to extinguish the flames and rescue the injured before the ambulances arrived, but the site was completely destroyed, with all the walls having collapsed on the people inside. We waited for many hours until ambulance and civil defence teams were able to clear the rubble and retrieve the bodies of those killed. Most of the bodies were those of women.”
In another testimony regarding the incident, (B.A.), a member of Gaza’s Christian community, stated:
“Maria and her daughter had been living in a home near the blood bank in western Gaza City, which, it is noteworthy, had been bombed by Israeli occupation forces at the beginning of the war. They subsequently moved to live in the church, where they provided services to displaced persons sheltering at the Holy Family Church. They later rented the home that was bombed while they were inside.”
Israeli airstrikes continued in different areas of the Gaza Strip on the same day. An attack targeted the courtyard of a house in Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza, killing one person. Another strike targeted the roof of a house in Al-Nasr neighbourhood, west of Gaza City, killing one person and injuring several others. An attack also targeted a Palestinian police post west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing one person and injuring several others. Another person died from injuries sustained in a previous airstrike on Jabalia Refugee Camp.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns this crime and the continued attacks targeting women and civilians throughout the Gaza Strip. The Centre stresses that the ongoing genocide, the killing of civilians, and the systematic targeting of the civilian population form part of policies pursued by the Israeli occupation forces over the preceding months and years. Such continued attacks constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and require urgent and effective international action to halt these crimes and ensure the protection of civilians, particularly women and children.
Al Mezan calls for the provision of effective international protection for the civilian population and for those responsible for violations and crimes to be held accountable, ensuring that they do not enjoy impunity. The Centre further warns that continued international silence and inaction embolden the continuation of these crimes and threaten further loss of civilian life.
