Hospitals, schools, churches, and mosques are unprotected targets of Israeli bombing and incursions
From 15 to 21 July 2025, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to attacks, bringing the death toll over the reporting period to 646 dead and 3101 injured
GAZA ( WEB NEWS )
From 15 to 21 July 2025, the Gaza strip has been subjected to horrific escalation by the Israeli occupation’s aggression, bringing the death toll over the reporting period to 646 dead and 3101 injured, mostly children and women, in Gaza and the West Bank, including Al-Quds Al Sharif. As such, the toll rose to 60,544 dead and 150,820 injured in Gaza and the West Bank, including Al-Qods Al Sharif, since 7 October 2023, in a rising pace of the crimes and violations perpetrated against the Palestinian people.
Gaza is under the brunt of starvation, bombing and the daily targeting of civilians and infrastructure, whereas the population of the West Bank and Al Qods Al Sharif are facing further displacement and attacks on land and sanctities.
Over the reporting period, the OIC Media Observatory for Israeli Crimes against Palestinians noted that the occupation war machine is deliberately destroying all life essentials. Neither the sanctity of health nor educational facilities is respected. Hospitals, schools, churches and mosques have become unprotected targets for Israeli bombing and storming. The Latin Patriarchate-run Holy Family Church in Gaza was targeted by the Israeli occupation, killing at least three persons and injuring 10 others.
The OIC Media Observatory documented the continuation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza at an unprecedented pace. The UNRWA affirmed that Israel is starving one million children of the besieged Gazans. Malnutrition among children has attained a record high number. The UNRWA stressed that 74,000 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition. It diagnosed 5,500 cases with compete acute malnutrition and over 800 with severe acute malnutrition, whereas a medical source at Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital reported the demise of a one-and-a-half-year-old baby girl due to starvation in Deir al-Balah.
Hospitals in Gaza are being swamped with hundreds of acutely starved and malnourished persons amid inadequate health care response due to acute shortage in medications, medical staff and scarce life essentials. According to the report by the Global Protection Group, no place in Gaza is safe, and hostilities are perpetrated in an environment lacking protection. Throughout the war period, over 40,000 children have been injured. The UNRWA stressed that the occupation is murdering on a daily basis the equivalent of an entire classroom of children; i.e. between 35 and 45 children on average in every classroom.
The Global Protection Group pointed out that 90 percent of Gazans are experiencing the tragedy of recurrent forced displacement, most of whom are elderly and disabled. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that people are risking their lives to make ends meet in terms of food and water in the absence of safety. The United Nations Population Fund highlighted that pregnant women and mothers are starving and deliver in acutely harsh conditions.
Starvation is exacerbating as the strip approaches the catastrophe threshold. Over 90 percent of Gazans are unable to secure daily food intake, while one in three children are suffering from acute and chronic malnutrition. In the previous report, the OIC Media Observatory confirmed the occupation’s continued, recurrent and systematic targeting of civilians in the aid distribution areas, tents of the displaced and hospitals as well as the demolition of homes on top of their dwellers, random incursions into every neighborhood and the deliberate destruction of vital infrastructure, especially water and electricity sources. This has worsened the situation of civilians fleeing death and seeking safety.
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that the Israeli army committed one of the most egregious massacres last Sunday against the starved civilians waiting for aid in northern Gaza. The army ordered them to raise their hands and then shot dead 67 civilians and injured dozens as they attempted to get a bag of flour. The total of the aid martyrs in the strip has reached 1017 and 6400 wounded. Meanwhile, one million displaced Palestinians are threatened by thirst with the main desalination plant in northern Gaza being completely out of service.
In the West Bank and occupied Al-Qods, the scenes were no less tragic. Palestinian cities and towns were the scene of widespread arrests and raids by the Israeli occupation, coupled with the demolition of homes, the uprooting of trees and the bulldozing of agricultural lands, while settlement construction and expansion are accelerating.
For more than 163 days, the occupation forces have carried out widespread demolitions and bulldozing operations in Tulkarem and Nour Shams camps, including the demolition of 104 buildings and homes and the displacement of over 25,000 Palestinians. They are also waging a campaign of arrests and raids in the West Bank and Al-Qods using direct repression, storming homes, abusing Palestinians, vandalizing properties, demolishing homes in Al Qods and forcing families to self-demolish to avoid heavy fines.
In Al Qods Al Sharif, the Al Aqsa Mosque is subjected to daily storming under the protection of the occupation forces amid mounting provocations and the performance of Talmudic rituals in its courtyards. According to the Department of Islamic Endowments in Al Qods, colonizers have carried out over 25 incursions in June against the backdrop of mounting calls by extremist “Temple Mount” groups, which periodically push for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and perform Talmudic rituals inside its courtyards, in a bid to change the historical and legal status quo of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. This occurs amid an Israeli campaign to close the UNRWA facilities and deprive more than 200,000 Palestinian refugees of vital services.
The Israeli press circulated the decision by the Israeli occupation authorities to withdraw the management prerogatives of the Ibrahimi Mosque from the Palestinians to the benefit of the Jewish Religious Council in Kiryat Arba settlement. This was met with widespread condemnations by the international community.
Forced displacement continues as a result of settler attacks supported by the Israeli army, setting ablaze agricultural lands and looting livestock. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, in the first semester of 2025, settlers carried out over 2,153 attacks, leading to the killing of four (4) citizens by the settlers. The attacks ranged from attacking Palestinian villages and peaceful villagers, the burning of homes, the shooting of Palestinians, the building of settlement outposts, the confiscation of Palestinian lands and attacking public spaces and vehicles.
Over 15-21 July, Israeli violations totaled 4,735 crimes (across the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Al Qods), with a total of 294,205 violations since 7 October 2023.