Gaza Herald – The Gaza Center for Human Rights revealed that Israel is turning the entire Gaza Strip into an “open killing field,” warning that the continued expansion of Israeli military control and daily attacks on civilians have left no safe place for Palestinians across the enclave.
In a statement issued Monday, the organization said Israeli forces now control approximately 70% of Gaza, arguing that the military campaign has gone beyond forced displacement and territorial fragmentation to create conditions where civilians are routinely targeted in residential neighborhoods, displacement camps, shelters, and areas near Israeli military positions, commonly referred to as the “Yellow Line.”
The center said its field researchers have documented continued Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling, sniper fire, and direct shootings in recent days, stressing that the attacks are ongoing violations of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution under international humanitarian law. It also warned that the lack of clearly defined or publicly announced military boundaries has effectively transformed large parts of Gaza into “death traps” for civilians.
Citing United Nations data, the organization noted that the UN verified the deaths of 196 Palestinians, including 18 women and 43 children, between October 10, 2025, and April 2026 in areas near Israeli military deployment zones. The center said dozens more civilians have since been killed in the same locations as Israel has continued shrinking the areas accessible to Gaza’s population.
Among the incidents documented, the center reported that Hamouda Ezzat Abu Daqqa was killed and 15 others injured after an Israeli airstrike struck a vehicle on Al-Rashid Street in the crowded Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis. It also reported the killing of Fadi Falah Daghmash and his wife Reham Rashid after an Israeli strike targeted a residential apartment near the Jordanian Hospital in Gaza City’s Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood. Additional attacks over the previous two days reportedly killed several more civilians in Gaza City, Jabalia, and the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood.
The rights group said these incidents reflect a broader pattern of systematic attacks on civilians regardless of active hostilities or immediate military necessity. It argued that Israel’s continued targeting of civilians in areas where they had been instructed to seek refuge, coupled with the reduction of habitable land, violates the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law. The organization renewed its call for immediate international action to halt the genocide, protect Gaza’s civilian population, and ensure accountability for those responsible through international justice mechanisms.
