Watan-In one of the most heinous crimes during the brutal war on the Gaza Strip, the occupying forces executed an elderly Palestinian man while he was explaining the nature of his children’s disabilities after their arrest.
The Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights stated in a press release that the occupation forces executed an elderly Palestinian man by shooting him while he was attempting to explain the nature of the disabilities suffered by his children after they were arrested from their home in Gaza City.
It added that information was received that an Israeli force had asked the residents of a residential building where the elderly man Kamel Mohammed Nofal (65 years old) lived, a retired employee of UNRWA, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza, to evacuate the building.
The residents tried to leave, including the mentioned elderly man, his wife Fatima Jameel Tamraz (63 years old), three of their children, their wives, and their children, most of whom had disabilities (deaf, mute, and visually impaired). In total, there were 23 individuals, including 9 children, the youngest being 4 months old.
Execution of the elderly man in front of his disabled children
After the attempt to detain them by Israeli soldiers and their inability to walk according to the army’s instructions due to their night vision impairment, which the elderly man Nofal explained to the soldiers in Hebrew, his sons Hussam (40 years old), Ahmed (36 years old), Mahmoud (32 years old), and his daughter Wafa (31 years old), who are deaf and mute, the soldiers immediately opened fire on him without allowing him to clarify further in front of the rest. This led to his immediate death in front of his family members.
The soldiers spread in the area and detained the remaining family members, and it is not yet clear what happened to them.
The Mediterranean Observatory reported that its teams continue to work to verify the fate of the remaining family members, expressing deep concern about the fate of individuals with disabilities who are unable to speak during their interrogation by Israeli soldiers.
It pointed out that its teams are continuing to document more field execution and physical liquidation crimes committed by Israeli forces against civilians, especially in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza, where extensive house raids are taking place.
Israeli Field Executions in Gaza
It was affirmed that Israeli soldiers carry out field killing and execution operations as a systematic policy in those areas, as part of revenge and intimidation operations against civilians. These crimes are justified by claiming that residents were previously instructed to move to the south of the Gaza Valley.
The observatory noted that the Israeli army is intensifying field execution and physical liquidation operations against civilians in the Gaza Strip, taking advantage of the international silence that amounts to complicity in the ongoing genocide since October 7th of last year.
International silence exacerbates Israeli atrocities
It pointed out that daily documentation continues of direct killing operations carried out by Israeli soldiers against isolated civilians during the raids on their homes in Gaza. This occurs in the absence of serious and genuine stances from the international community and various United Nations bodies, encouraging further humanitarian atrocities and allowing perpetrators to escape punishment.
The Mediterranean Observatory emphasized that the systematic killing and liquidation operations have no explanation or justification other than being part of deliberate revenge operations for which civilians, protected under international humanitarian law, pay the price.
Calls for an International Investigation
The Mediterranean Observatory called on Israeli authorities to disclose the fate of the remaining members of Kamel Nofal’s family, release them, and ensure their safety. It also reiterated its demand for an urgent international investigation into the horrifying crimes committed by the Israeli army in its incursions into the Gaza Strip. This includes field executions, arbitrary arrests, and widespread torture of men and women.
It emphasized that under international humanitarian law, Israel is obligated to take all possible precautions to avoid harming civilians and ensure their ability to provide suitable conditions for safety and shelter. It reaffirmed that civilians choosing to stay in evacuated areas do not lose their protection, and it is prohibited to target them under any pretext.
Immediate ceasefire as a fundamental demand
The Observatory stressed that an immediate ceasefire is the fundamental demand that everyone should work towards achieving. This is to save what can be saved from the ongoing genocide targeting 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip. Following that, all international mechanisms should be activated to investigate the committed crimes, leading to accountability, justice, and fairness.