greggerypeccary wrote on Jun 17th, 2024 at 1:51pm:| 'NEW YORK, Jun 13 (IPS) - A United Nations commission tasked with conducting an in-depth investigation of Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories has concluded that Israel's government is responsible for multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including "extermination," torture, forcible transfer, and the use of starvation as a weapon of warfare.' |
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The
commission report also says:
12. Hamas military wing, other Palestinian armed groups and civilians attacked distinct civilian targets in at least 24 localities, as well as public spaces and outdoor festivals. In these sites militants systematically moved from house to house setting homes on fire, shooting into private and public shelters, and removing people from hiding places, killing, injuring and abducting civilians to Gaza. The Commission investigated six distinct attacks in Be’eri and eight attacks in Nir Oz, each involving multiple victims, largely from the same families.
13. In Be’eri, 105 civilians were killed (63 men and 42 women) by members of the military wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) as well as by civilians from Gaza. In addition, 31 civilians (13 men and 18 women) were abducted to the Gaza Strip. Attackers entered the kibbutz and shot at residents, cars, pets and houses, killing and injuring, setting houses on fire and abducting people to Gaza. In one case, a nine-month-old baby girl, was shot and killed while hiding with her mother in their safe room in Be’eri. In another case, at least four people were taken out of their homes and killed at the perimeter of the Be’eri, likely while being transferred to Gaza.
14. In Nir Oz, 46 civilians were killed (33 men and 13 women) by members of the military wings of Hamas and the PIJ, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement and the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Palestinian civilians also participated in these killings. Seventy-two residents of the kibbutz (37 men and 35 women) were abducted to Gaza. In one case, a 79-year-old woman and her 12-year-old autistic granddaughter from Nir Oz were killed close to the perimeter fence with Gaza, allegedly because they were slowing down the retreat of their captors. In another case, a 70-year-old woman and her 73-year-old husband were attacked while out for a walk in the kibbutz. The woman was killed, while her partner was abducted to Gaza where he died in captivity.
15. Many Israeli families suffered a multigenerational impact with several members either killed or abducted to Gaza. In one case in Be’eri, a 48-year-old woman and her two teenage daughters were killed, while the father was abducted to Gaza. In Nir Oz, a family of five was hiding in their safe room when militants broke into the room, shot and killed both parents, and set fire to their home, which resulted in the killing of their three children from smoke suffocation. The children’s grandmother was shot dead in a different safe room in the kibbutz. In another case from Nir Oz, an entire family was abducted to Gaza, including both parents, a four-year-old boy and a 9-month-old baby. Two of the children’s grandparents were also killed in the attack and their bodies were found near the Gaza border.
16. Of 3,000 young people at the Nova music festival in Re'im, 364 attendees (including 215 men and 136 women) were killed by members of the military wing of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, while around 40 others were abducted to Gaza. Victims were killed at the site of the main festival while attempting to hide under the festival stage, in portable public toilets, inside parked cars and in garbage containers. In one case, a man hid by a parked silver car, when Hamas militants shot him to death. Many of those killed were shot while running through a field east of the Nova site, trying to escape. Others were killed while hiding in stationary cars and in public shelters along road 232 where they sought refuge. Survivors in shelters reported lying for hours under piles of bodies waiting for first responders to arrive.
17. The Commission investigated the killing of civilians in four public shelters (near Re’im, Be’eri and Alumim). In all four locations, militants attacked the shelters using grenades and machine gun fire, shooting at any person attempting to escape. In a shelter near Re’im, the Commission found that militants also used a rocket propelled grenade. Militants abducted civilians to Gaza from the Re’im shelter, all of whom were suffering from serious injuries. The similar pattern of attack against these and other public shelters suggests that the attackers planned the modalities of the attacks in advance.
