Israel targeted more than 270,000 victims in Gaza during two years of genocide

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor revealed a shocking report that lays bare the genocide stats that came from Israel’s warcrimes against the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. The report documents the killing, injury or arrest of more than 270,000 Palestinians, or nearly 12% of the Strip’s population, in one of the bloodiest humanitarian disasters in modern history.

According to the report, the number of martyrs reached about 75,190 Palestinians, including 21,310 children and 13,987 women, and 90% of them were civilians. The scale of the devastation is staggering. More than 173,000 people were injured, tens of thousands of whom suffered permanent disabilities or serious injuries, including 40,000 cases of long-term disability, 21,000 of whom were children, while more than 45,000 children lost one or both parents.

Genocide stats: 12,000 prisoners detained from the Strip

The Monitor also documented the arrest of about 12,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 2,700 who remain in detention or have been forcibly disappeared, in harsh conditions that violate all international norms.

The report noted that Palestinian detainees were subjected to the most horrific forms of physical and psychological torture inside Israeli detention centres. Through field interviews, the Monitor documented 42 types of torture, including rape and sexual assault, severe beatings resulting in broken bones, electric shocks, deprivation of sleep and food, deliberate humiliation by spitting and urinating on prisoners, and threats to kill their family members. Cases of deliberate killing inside cells were also recorded, reflecting a systematic approach of inhumane treatment that amounts to war crimes under international humanitarian law.

The report added that Israel’s starvation policy has caused the deaths of 482 Palestinians, including 160 children, as a result of malnutrition and food insecurity faced by all of the population living in the Gaza Strip. Per capita water availability has declined by 98%, while 8 out of 10 buildings in the Strip have been destroyed, including 555,000 housing units, 621 schools (95%), 3,300 industrial facilities, 191 media outlets and 100% of hospitals. Irreplaceable buildings weren’t spared 890 mosques, three churches and 205 archaeological and historical sites were also damaged.

With regard to the destruction of cities, the Euro-Mediterranean Monitor documented widespread destruction and damage affecting almost all areas of the Strip, as the occupying army pursued a scorched earth policy and destroyed vital infrastructure, property and buildings.

Is it still a ceasefire if people are still getting killed?

Despite the ceasefire that came into effect on 11 October of this year, the Monitor documented 47 new violations, during which 73 Palestinians were killed in separate attacks, including air strikes, artillery shelling and direct sniping.

Professional groups were not spared, with 1,701 health workers, 255 journalists, 800 teachers and 200 academics killed. There has also been a 300% increase in miscarriages among women as a result of fear, psychological trauma and severe stress.

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor explained that around 99% of Gaza’s population had been forcibly displaced from their homes at least once, while the Strip had been transformed into a psychologically and socially devastated area, with most of the population showing symptoms of PTSD and a loss of sense of security and normal life.

The Monitor emphasised that the recent ceasefire does not mean an end to the suffering, as Israel continues its siege, restricts the entry of aid, and obstructs rescue operations and the removal of rubble.

The Monitor called for urgent international action to hold Israeli officials accountable for their crimes and impose comprehensive economic and diplomatic sanctions, while guaranteeing the Palestinians’ right to freedom, dignity and self-determination and ending the occupation and apartheid regime imposed for more than seven decades.

Featured image via Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash