FALCON POWERS – The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights strongly condemned the massacre committed by the Israeli army on Saturday in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the sector, expressing deep concern about reports of the possibility that Israel may use the American floating platform designated for the transfer of humanitarian supplies to Gaza for military purposes.
The Euro-Mediterranean said in a press statement that more than two hundred Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others were wounded, mostly women and children – in an initial statistic that is subject to increase with the continued rescue operations, due to air, ground and naval attacks carried out by the Israeli army intensively and violently for about two hours on the “Central Market” area, which is crowded with thousands of residents daily in the Nuseirat camp and the surrounding areas, and later extended to most of the central areas of the Gaza Strip.
Following the large-scale attacks, the Israeli army announced that its forces, in coordination with the General Security Service (Shin Bet) and the Israeli Police (Yassam), were able to retrieve four Israeli detainees in an operation carried out by special forces in the Nuseirat camp.
The Euro-Mediterranean said that the mentioned operation of the Israeli army was characterized by the launching of intensive indiscriminate aerial and artillery attacks to cover the withdrawal of the Israeli forces, which resulted in excessive civilian casualties and a large number of injuries among them, and caused widespread damage to civilian property, constituting a serious violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, including the principles of humanity, distinction, military necessity, proportionality and the taking of necessary precautions.
Nasser Ghben (45 years old), a displaced person from the city of Gaza to the Nuseirat camp, told the Euro-Mediterranean team that the sounds of gunfire during the attack on the camp were unprecedented and characterized by excessive randomness, coinciding with aerial and artillery targeting of a large number of residential buildings and apartments.
Ghben mentioned that he miraculously survived the intense Israeli bombardment of the Nuseirat market area while he was with one of his relatives to buy some food, and that during his escape from the scene he saw dozens of bodies lying on the road, some of which were dismembered and others belonged to young children.
