Occupation Continues Mass Killings, Starvation, Forced Displacement, Systematic Destruction, and the Imposition of Colonial Facts on the Ground in the Gaza Strip
Date: July 15, 2026
Press Release
Occupation Continues Mass Killings, Starvation, Forced Displacement, Systematic Destruction, and the Imposition of Colonial Facts on the Ground in the Gaza Strip
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the continued commission by the Israeli occupation forces of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. These crimes include escalating mass killings and the deliberate targeting of civilians, the systematic destruction of homes and residential neighborhoods, the expansion of forced evacuation and displacement policies, the tightening of the siege and starvation campaign, the obstruction of humanitarian aid, and restrictions on the travel of patients and the return of stranded Palestinians. These actions are being carried out alongside military and settlement measures aimed at imposing new colonial realities and reshaping the demographic and geographic landscape of the Gaza Strip.
Field data confirms that, since the ceasefire agreement entered into force, the occupation has committed 3,689 violations, resulting in the killing of 1,123 Palestinians, the injury of 3,616 others, and the arrest of 142 civilians, in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, international humanitarian law, and the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.
As a result, the overall death toll since October 7, 2023, has risen to 73,246 Palestinians killed and 173,727 injured, while thousands of victims remain trapped beneath the rubble.
ICSPR: As part of its systematic starvation policy, the occupation has allowed only about 35% of the planned humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. It continues to block the entry of temporary housing units (caravans), tents, heavy machinery, medicines, medical supplies, fuel, and other essential goods necessary for the survival of the population. It has also targeted and detained humanitarian aid truck drivers, further deepening famine and the collapse of the healthcare system, effectively turning food, medicine, and fuel into weapons of war against civilians.
At the same time, the occupation continues to impose arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement. Only 8,878 travelers out of the 24,000 who were expected to be permitted to travel through the Rafah Crossing have been allowed to leave, representing no more than 36% of those eligible. The right of return to the Gaza Strip has likewise been reduced to arbitrary security approvals. On average, only around 70 patients, wounded persons, and their companions are permitted to travel each day, with a similar number allowed to return. They are subjected to degrading inspections and interrogations, while patients, the wounded, students, and residency permit holders continue to face severe travel restrictions, and hundreds of stranded Palestinians remain barred from returning without any legal basis. These practices constitute a grave violation of the right to freedom of movement and the right to return to one’s homeland.
ICSPR: Alongside the ongoing siege, the health catastrophe has reached unprecedented levels. Medical institutions report that miscarriage rates among pregnant women have risen to between 60% and 70%, while congenital birth defects linked to malnutrition are increasing. More than 60% of pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from anemia, and nearly 80% of Gaza’s children suffer from malnutrition and anemia amid the destruction of hospitals and neonatal care units, as well as severe shortages of medicines and nutritional supplements. These conditions threaten the lives and future of an entire generation of children.
ICSPR: Israeli occupation forces continue to target civilians across the Gaza Strip through airstrikes, artillery shelling, and direct gunfire. Israeli warplanes have repeatedly attacked displacement tents, shelters, residential homes, and civilian gatherings. In recent days, attacks have concentrated on Khan Younis, Al-Bureij, Jabalia, and the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, alongside continued artillery shelling and intensive gunfire directed at residential areas, confirming that civilians remain the primary targets of Israeli military attacks.
In a dangerous escalation, the occupation has expanded its policy of forced evacuation and displacement in the Central Governorate by issuing successive evacuation orders covering Al-Maghazi, Deir Al-Balah, Nuseirat Refugee Camp, and Al-Bureij Refugee Camp. Hundreds of families were forced to leave their homes within minutes before Israeli forces proceeded to bombard the evacuated areas. Homes were destroyed in Qasr Al-Sultan in Al-Maghazi, Al-Barouk neighborhood in Deir Al-Balah, Al-Hasayneh west of Nuseirat, and Block 6 in Al-Bureij Refugee Camp, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of families and spreading fear and panic among civilians.
ICSPR: The Commission’s field researchers documented the advance of Israeli tanks into the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, the deployment of military vehicles along Salah Al-Din Road, and the construction by Israeli bulldozers of new earthen barriers, concrete blocks, and military fortifications. The occupation has also expanded the so-called “Yellow Line” and seized additional areas of the Gaza Strip, further isolating Palestinian communities, forcing civilians into less than 30% of the Strip’s total area, restricting civilian movement, and consolidating new occupation realities on the ground.
This escalation is particularly alarming in light of Israeli statements claiming that the occupation army now controls between 67% and 70% of the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities have also announced the expansion of so-called “pilot zones,” while the Israeli Minister of Defense has declared plans to establish three settlement outposts in northern Gaza, revealing a comprehensive policy aimed at entrenching long-term military occupation, advancing annexation and settlement expansion, and permanently altering the demographic and geographic character of the Gaza Strip.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) affirms that the combination of mass killings, systematic destruction, starvation, siege, denial of medical treatment and freedom of movement, obstruction of the return of Palestinians, forced displacement, and military and settlement expansion does not constitute isolated violations. Rather, it represents a systematic Israeli policy aimed at destroying the conditions necessary for the survival of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. These acts fulfill the material and legal elements of the crime of genocide, in addition to constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity that require international criminal accountability.
Accordingly, ICSPR holds the Israeli government fully legally responsible for these grave international crimes and calls upon the guarantor states of the ceasefire agreement, the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council, and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to fulfill their legal and moral obligations by taking urgent and effective action to halt the ongoing genocide. ICSPR further calls for compelling the occupation to immediately end its aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; halt forced displacement and the destruction of civilian homes; completely lift the blockade; permanently open all border crossings; ensure the unrestricted entry of humanitarian assistance; release all detainees from the Gaza Strip, including detained humanitarian aid truck drivers; facilitate the travel of patients, the wounded, and students; guarantee the unrestricted return of stranded Palestinians to the Gaza Strip without arbitrary security conditions or coercion; provide international protection for civilians; implement the orders of the International Court of Justice; accelerate proceedings before the International Criminal Court to hold all Israeli officials and their accomplices accountable; impose effective international sanctions, foremost among them a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel; and end the prevailing policy of impunity that has enabled the continuation and escalation of crimes against the Palestinian people.
International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR)
