ICSPR Follows with Grave Concern and Deep Anger the Ongoing Israeli Escalation in the Gaza Strip

Date: April 26, 2025

Press Release
ICSPR Follows with Grave Concern and Deep Anger the Ongoing Israeli Escalation in the Gaza Strip

The International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights (ICSPR) is following with grave concern and deep anger the ongoing Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip, and the systematic expansion in patterns of targeting that are no longer limited to conventional bombardment, but now include direct and concentrated attacks on civilians, residential neighborhoods, and vehicles, and most dangerously, the targeting of civilian police forces while carrying out their duties. This constitutes a flagrant violation of all rules of international humanitarian law and turns the reality of the so-called “ceasefire” into a merely formal condition concealing the continuation of organized killing.

ICSPR indicates that the figures issued by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip reflect the scale of the ongoing catastrophe, as 17 martyrs and 32 injured persons arrived at hospitals during the past 48 hours, including 13 martyrs during the past 24 hours. The death toll since the beginning of the ceasefire on October 11 has risen to 809 martyrs, while the total number since October 7, 2023 has reached 72,585 martyrs and 172,370 injuries, with victims still trapped under the rubble and in the streets due to the inability of rescue teams to reach them, revealing the continuation of killing despite all political declarations about de-escalation.

ICSPR affirms that the most dangerous aspect revealed by this escalation is the systematic targeting of the Palestinian civilian police force. Israeli aircraft targeted a police patrol near the Sheikh Radwan Police Station in northern Gaza, resulting in the killing of Captain Imran Omar Al-Lad’a, 59, and Lieutenant Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Qassas, 40, and the injury of others, in a crime that can only be interpreted as part of a policy aimed at dismantling the internal security system and creating a dangerous societal vacuum.

ICSPR also documents the crime of targeting a police vehicle in Mawasi Khan Younis, in the Bir 19 area, while the police force was returning from a civilian mission to settle a family dispute. The vehicle was directly targeted, resulting in the killing of Abdul Moneim Mohammad Miqdad, Mohammad Miqdad, his father, Omar Saleh Maamar, Abdul Rahman Abdul Rahim Barakat, Mohammad Nader Al-Dawahidi, Mohammad Hamdi Miqdad, and Hossam Sheikh Al-Eid, with confirmations that the number rose to 8 martyrs, in a clear indication that the target was organized civilian work rather than any military activity.

ICSPR records the continued targeting of civilian vehicles, as the bombing of a vehicle at the entrance to Al-Maghazi Camp led to the killing of three civilians, in a scene in which civilian means of transport are repeatedly targeted, turning public roads into open arenas of death.

ICSPR condemns the massacre and crime of bombing the home of the Al-Tanani family in northern Gaza near Kamal Adwan Hospital, which resulted in the killing of the mother Islam Mohammad Karsou’, her son, the child Hamza Khaled Tanani, and her daughter, the four-year-old child Naya Khaled Al-Tanani, confirming that families are being targeted inside their homes without any regard for the principles of distinction and protection of civilians, especially children and women.

ICSPR also documents the crime of targeting a civilian gathering with a drone near Al-Qassam Mosque in the Beit Lahia Project area, which led to the killing of Aboud Mahmoud Al-Abed, Alaa Nabil Hussein Baloosha, Mohammad Bahaa Nabil Baloosha, Anas Ihab Abu Foul, and Salah Mahmoud Al-Abed, in addition to the later killing of Alaa Ahmad, who succumbed to his wounds, reflecting a repeated pattern of targeting open civilian gatherings.

ICSPR points to the continuation of direct killings through gunfire by Israeli occupation forces, as five citizens were killed since this morning in several areas of the Gaza Strip: Mohammad Riyad Al-Ashqar at Kuwait Roundabout, Mohammad Ziad Al-Ashqar at Kuwait Roundabout, Mahmoud Saleh Jaber in the Al-Maghraqa area, Rami Ramzi Ghabn who later died of his wounds in Sheikh Radwan, and Huda Juma’a Al-Attar in Mawasi Khan Younis. Citizen Bahjat Abu Al-Eish was also killed by occupation gunfire to the head in Jabalia Camp, the child Doaa Mohammad Suleiman Rahim died from a previous injury west of Deir al-Balah, and citizen Imad Miqdad was killed as a result of an attack near Sheikh Radwan Roundabout in northwestern Gaza yesterday, in the context of repeated bombardment that reflects a military focus on densely populated civilian areas.

ICSPR stresses that targeting the civilian police force is no longer an isolated incident but has become a repeated policy. The number of police casualties since the beginning of the ceasefire has reached 27 martyrs and dozens of injured, indicating a clear attempt to undermine society’s ability to protect the rule of law, manage daily affairs, and preserve internal security and civil peace.

ICSPR monitors daily other patterns of Israeli violations and crimes, including the demolition of civilian property in areas along the so-called yellow line controlled by occupation forces, in addition to the daily targeting of fishermen through gunfire, the sinking of their boats, and the injury of fishermen, constituting a direct assault on livelihoods and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe.

ICSPR indicates that this escalation in the Gaza Strip coincides with a dangerous rise in settler crimes in the West Bank, including killing, shootings, running over civilians, storming villages, and burning property, under the protection of occupation forces, as part of an organized policy to impose a coercive reality on the Palestinian population.

ICSPR emphasizes that these acts collectively constitute fully-fledged war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and may amount to crimes against humanity, especially in light of the direct targeting of civilians, children, homes, vehicles, and civilian institutions, and the continued impunity.

ICSPR believes that the continuation of these crimes in such a systematic manner would not have been possible without the state of international silence and the failure to impose accountability, which has encouraged the occupation authorities to persist in their violations without deterrence. ICSPR affirms that targeting Palestinian society in its civilian structure, especially through attacking the police force and targeting families inside their homes, reveals a systematic policy of killing and social dismantling, and that the continued failure of the international community constitutes an effective cover for the continuation of these crimes.

ICSPR calls on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to expedite investigations into the crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including killings, field executions, and the targeting of civilian institutions. It also calls on the international community to take urgent action to provide effective international protection for civilians.

ICSPR stresses the necessity for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their legal obligations, ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, work to stop violations, and hold their perpetrators accountable.

ICSPR renews its calls for an immediate and comprehensive end to the aggression, an end to the targeting of civilians and police forces, an end to Israeli occupation and settler crimes, a ban on arms transfers to Israel, and the guarantee of the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid and all essential needs to the residents of the Gaza Strip.