FOR THE RESPONSIBILITY
TO PROTECT
19 May 2021
ATROCITY ALERT
Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.
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WAR CRIMES CONTINUE IN GAZA CONFLICT
As the war in the Gaza Strip has intensified over the past week, Israeli forces have displayed reckless disregard for the lives of Palestinians in the blockaded enclave, carrying out hundreds of airstrikes targeting residential buildings in one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Since 10 May at least 219 Palestinians, including 61 children, have been killed and over 1,500 injured by Israeli airstrikes. Airstrikes hit Shateh refugee camp on 15 May, killing 10 civilians, and also targeted a multi-story building that includes the media offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. At least 130 buildings – including 17 hospitals and Gaza’s only laboratory for COVID-19 testing – have now been seriously damaged or destroyed, forcibly displacing over 58,000 Palestinians. Gaza’s sewerage system and water supply have also been damaged by airstrikes, with the UN reporting that 800,000 Gazans now lack access to safe drinking water. These attacks, which appear to deliberately ignore the principles of proportionality and distinction, may amount to war crimes under international law.