Nuseirat: Civilians shot execution style during ‘near perfect’ Gaza rescue op

Testimony from Palestinians indicates Israeli forces deliberately executed civilians in their homes with gunfire and indiscriminately bombed civilians from the air as part of the military operation in Gaza to rescue captives held by Hamas.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth described the 8 June operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed 210 Palestinians, as a “near-perfect execution in broad daylight.”

“Precise intelligence, meticulous planning and execution, and quick and professional action resulted in a successful operation to free four hostages,” the paper added.

But Euro-Med Human Rights monitor documented that Palestinian civilians were shot execution-style in their homes and in the street as the operation began.

Chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights organization Rami Abdu reported that according to preliminary testimonies, Israeli forces used a ladder to enter the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal and immediately executed 36-year-old Fatima al-Jamal upon encountering her on the staircase.

Israeli troops then executed her husband, journalist Abdullah al-Jamal, 36, and his father, Dr. Ahmed, 74, in front of his grandchildren. The army also shot Dr. Ahmed’s daughter, Zainab, 27, who sustained serious injuries.

According to i24 news, this was the house where 26-year-old Israeli captive and conscript Noa Argamani was being held.

Abdu reported further that Israeli forces executed Muhammad Salhiya with a bullet to the head while he was sitting on a chair reading the Quran in his home in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Abdu stated that Euro-Med had initially documented field executions and killings in at least seven homes during the operation.

“In this world, the blood of a white westerner is equivalent to the lives of thousands of innocent non-westerners,” Abdu concluded, noting the focus of the western and Israeli press on the fate of the four rescued Israeli captives.

Euro-Med compiled a preliminary list of the identified Palestinian victims in Saturday’s Al-Nuseirat massacre, committed by Israeli forces in just one hour.

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated in a press conference that the operation began at 11 am and “was a high-risk, complex mission based on precise intelligence conducted in daylight in two separate buildings deep inside Gaza. While under fire, under fire inside the buildings, under fire on the way out, our forces rescued our hostages.”

This has led some to believe that Israeli forces only bombed the Nuseirat Camp, killing hundreds of civilians, to clear the way for the special forces and the captives to escape.

However, Palestinian witnesses report that Israeli forces indiscriminately bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp in multiple locations before they heard any fighting break out, indicating that the bombing was to create chaos and prepare the way for the rescue operation to begin.

One woman from Nuseirat stated, “Around 10:30, the assault began. Various types of aircraft bombarded us, and drones fired at anyone moving. It was as if it were the Day of Judgment. People around me were torn apart, limbs scattered everywhere. They annihilated us, they truly annihilated us.”

She stated further, “I was taken by surprise as bullets rained down on us and rings of fire encircled us. Then, I found myself gathering the remains of my son. Yes, I collected the pieces of my child’s body.”

A Palestinian woman named Nour stated, “At 11 am, Yamen and I were sitting by the tent when suddenly, an Apache helicopter appeared above us, dropping thermal bombs and then live ammunition on the people by the sea and around the tents. Then, heavy shelling began, and the tents next to us were bombed and caught fire. We started running with the crowd as if it were the Day of Judgment.”

One Palestinian man described how Israeli special forces disguised as civilians entered the camp in a car and large truck used for delivering humanitarian aid. He said the Israeli forces “were in a truck carrying clothes and cooking pans.”
After the driver in the car put a mask on, people gathered around. The driver reversed the vehicle and drove it next to the truck. People started saying these were Israeli special forces.

“While we were standing in the street, suddenly, there was a strike. Where, how, how, or why, nobody knew what was going on.”

Israeli news website Ynet wrote, citing an Asharq Al-Awsat report, that the special force, which included women, infiltrated the Nuseirat camp using a truck full of equipment characteristic of the displaced in the Strip, such as mattresses and clothes. They pretended to be civilians who had fled Rafah due to heavy airstrikes and were looking for a place to rent in the market area.

Source: The Cradle