By Nour Abuaisha
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – The Israeli army bombed around 21 schools sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip since last month, killing 267 Palestinians and injuring hundreds, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said on Saturday.
At least 22 people, including 13 children and six women, were killed early Saturday when Israeli fighter jets hit a school housing displaced civilians in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, according to local authorities.
The attack “is a new crime to be added to a series of potential war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip,” the Geneva-based rights group said in a statement.
It called Israeli attacks on schools housing displaced people “a blatant violation of the principles of distinction, military necessity, and proportionality.”
The organization condemned Israeli attempts to justify its attacks on schools and shelters in Gaza.
The Israeli army often claims that it targeted gunmen during its attacks on schools, an allegation vehemently denied by Palestinians.
“No evidence was given to prove the validity of the Israeli claims,” the rights group said.
It called on all countries of the world to "assume their international responsibilities to stop the crime of genocide and all serious crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, to protect civilians there, to ensure Israel's compliance with international law and the International Court of Justice decisions, to impose effective sanctions on it, and to halt all forms of political, financial, and military support provided to it.”
Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 41,400 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,700 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala