Amnesty International urged a formal investigation into a deadly sequence of attacks that struck Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, during December and January. Nearly a hundred civilians were killed, including more than 40 children, in four separate Israeli Army assaults on the city.
According to the NGO, three attacks occurred in December and one in January, targeting multiple buildings where about 1.4 million Palestinians live, with roughly 1.2 million refugees from other parts of Gaza among them. In total, 95 civilians died, among them 42 children, in these bombings.
The organization stressed that there was no evidence suggesting the targeted locations were legitimate military targets or that residents inside the buildings posed military threats. Consequently, it warned that the attacks on civilians should be treated as possible war crimes and subjected to a thorough examination.
Amnesty International noted that while the Israeli Army appeared to aim at military targets, there was a lack of distinction between civilian and military sites, indicating a pattern of indiscriminate bombing.
Erika Guevara Rosas, head of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, highlighted that entire families were killed even as some sought shelter in zones declared safe by authorities, without prior warnings from Israeli forces.
She argued that the attacks reflected violations of international law and contradicted claims of precautions intended to minimize civilian harm.
Among those killed were a baby under three weeks old, a 69-year-old retired doctor, a journalist who hosted displaced families, and a mother sharing a bed with her 23-year-old daughter. The report also notes a pregnant woman who was among the victims.
A stain on the common conscience
In the statement accompanying the report, Guevara urged that the survivors’ pain be acknowledged and that Gaza’s crimes weigh on the global conscience. The organization referenced the International Court of Justice’s interim ruling about the risk of genocide and called for an immediate, permanent ceasefire along with an arms embargo on all parties, to reflect the court’s interim measures.
Guevara underscored the urgent need for accountability, noting the devastating toll four months into the conflict and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe. The statement urged governments to act decisively to prevent genocide and to push for a true cessation of hostilities as a central priority.
The NGO pressed for a swift acceleration of investigations into potential war crimes by all sides, including work by the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor. It asserted that the evidence points to grave violations that demand prompt international action.
Investigations into the attacks
The organization accompanied its findings with firsthand visits to the attack sites. Photographs and videos were collected, and 18 people involved in search and rescue operations were interviewed, including 14 survivors and four relatives of the victims.
The first strike targeted two houses in the Al Zuhur neighborhood belonging to the Harb family, resulting in the deaths of 25 civilians, among them 10 children and an eight-month-pregnant woman. The survivor Islam Harb recounted the moment of destruction and the struggle to locate his children in the rubble.
In the second attack, a three-story home in the Brazil neighborhood belonging to Abdalá Shehada, former head of a local hospital, was destroyed along with 29 civilians, including 11 children. Shehada’s son Yusef described it as a sanctuary for displaced people, recalling days spent pulling bodies from the rubble while loved ones sought safety.
The third strike hit Ömer Zurub’s two-story house in the city’s western part, killing 22 people, including 11 children. The elderly victim was 75, while the youngest, a great-niece named Amira Aisha, was less than three weeks old and not yet registered in the civil system. The family described regaining consciousness beneath the debris after the blast.
Malak al Shaer, Zurub’s daughter-in-law, recounted the chaos and injuries sustained by family members who had been sleeping when the attack occurred. Medical care infrastructure in Gaza has been overwhelmed by the resulting destruction. In a neighboring house, a journalist hosted 70 displaced people before losing several of them in the attack.
The fourth attack, under investigation, occurred in January in a five-story building in Tel el Sultan, a neighborhood where forced relocation of the displaced was being pressed. Eighteen people died, including ten children. A nurse described the displaced residents who relied on the building as a shelter, noting that Israeli maps had identified Tel el Sultan as a safe area, complicating the narrative of safety for civilians.