The Killing of Othman Rami Jawad Hallas, 15

At approximately 6:00 pm on Friday, 13 July 2018, in the area of Malka, east of the Al-Zaitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza city, the IOF fired live bullets at peaceful demonstrators, resulting in the killing of Othman Rami Jawad Hallas, 15, who was shot by a live bullet that entered his chest and exited through his back.

Wael Rafiq Hallas, 30, a relative of Othman, witnessed his death”

“At approximately 5:50 pm, in the area of Malka, east of Al-Zaitoun   neighborhood, east of Gaza city, while I heard the sound of live bullets, I saw my relative, Othman Rami Hallas, and his father, my cousin. Othman was standing about 5 meters away from the barbed wire next to two girls and a young man, waving Palestinian flags. About five minutes later, I saw Othman approaching the barbed wire. He put one of his feet on the barbed wire. He was unarmed and did not carry anything, so it seemed to me that he intended only to wave his hands at the soldiers as a challenge.

I was standing 20 meters to the south of Othman, when I saw three soldiers behind high sand hills, about 20 meters to the east of the location of Othman, located behind the second border fence in sniper positions. Suddenly, I heard a live bullet and saw Othman falling back to the ground with blood flowing from the upper part of his body. (Affidavit 481/2018)"

Othman was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, where doctors tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at about 6:20 pm on the same day.

Along the five border areas of the Gaza Strip, 92 civilians were injured, 68 of whom were shot with live bullets, 17 of the injuries were children, three women, two paramedics and two journalists. Of these, 13 injuries were reported as critical injuries.

Injuries During the Great Return March

Khan Younis Governorate

Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, including women and children, participated in the return march in the Khuza'a border area, east of Khan Younis. The IOF targeted civilians, resulting in the injury of 19 protestors, one of whom is in a critical condition. Among the 19 injured were two children. Ten of the injuries were caused by live bullets and nine from tear gas canisters.

North Gaza Governorate

In the area of ​​Abu Safiya Hill, east of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Governorate, 18 civilians were injured, including four children. Six of the injured were reported as critical. Two other journalists were wounded, Abd Al-Karim Hassan Hamdounah, 28, who was wounded by shrapnel in the right thigh and the journalist, Anas Jamal Mahmoud Al-Sharif, 22.

Gaza Governorate

In Gaza Governorate 15 protesters, including three children were injured in the Malka area, east of Gaza city.  Among the wounded, 12 were shot with live bullets and three with tear gas canisters.

Central Gaza Governorate

In the border area east of Al-Breij refugee camp, 22 civilians, including two children, three women and two paramedics were wounded. Among the injured, 18 were wounded from live bullets and four from tear gas canisters.

Rafah Governorate

In the border area, east of Rafah, the IOF targeted peaceful demonstrators with live bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, wounding 18 civilians, including six children, 13 of them with live bullets and four with tear gas canisters.

14 July 2018: Muhammad Nasir Sharab, 19 succumbed to his wound from 13^th July

On 14 July 2018, at approximately 5:30 am, medical sources at the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Younis announced that Muhammed Nasir Sharab, 19, was killed by a wound he sustained during his participation in the Great Return March, east of Khuza'a town, east of Khan Younis, on the previous Friday, 13 July 2018. Muhammad was shot by the IOF while he was participating in peaceful demonstrations. He was standing at a distance of 100-150 meters from the border fence. He arrived at the hospital in a very critical condition and stayed in the intensive care unit until he was pronounced dead the next day.

14 July 2018: Two Children Killed in Gaza City Bombing Attack:

On July 14, at approximately 6:00 pm, Israeli warplanes fired 9 missiles at a building under construction (intended to be the headquarters of the National Library) in Al-Katiba area, west of Gaza city. The target building is located in the middle of Al-Katiba Square, a public park full of civilians, including entire families, located in a densely populated area close to civil and governmental institutions. The bombing resulted in the destruction of large parts of the building and the death of two children, Louay Mazin Nabil Kuheil, 14 and his friend Amir Muhammad Al-Nimra, 14 who were wounded by shrapnel in the head and throughout the body.

The shelling also resulted in the injury of 23 Palestinian civilians, including two children and a woman. According to Al-Haq’s field documentation, at approximately 6:00 pm on 14 July, 2018, while the two children Amir and Louay were in Al-Katiba Park, next to the targeted building, an Israeli drone targeted and attacked the location with 5 rockets, resulting in shrapnel injuries to Amir Al-Nimra and Louay Kuheil, as well as injury of another 23 civilians, including two children and a woman. After evacuating the bodies of the children, Israeli aircraft returned minutes later, bombing the structure again and causing part of the building to collapse. The children were pronounced dead upon their arrival to Al-Shifaa Hospital.

The shelling caused serious damage to the Al-Katiba mosque and several other buildings in the area were damaged, including the Transportation and Ambulance building of the Ministry of Health, where 9 ambulances were partially damaged and one was completely destroyed. It is worth mentioning that this shelling comes as part of a continuous Israeli escalation since Friday 13 July 2018, on the Gaza Strip.

Thursday, 19 July 2018: One Killed in Israeli Drone Attack

On Thursday, 19 July 2018, at approximately 2:30 pm, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a monitoring site east of Al-Shawka town, east of Rafah, killing Abd Al-Karim Isma'il Radwan, 38, a member of the Qassam Brigades, and wounding three others.

Friday, 20 July 2018: One Killed and 74 Injured during the Great Return March and 3 Killed at a Bombing of a Military Site

On 20 July 2018, the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) continued to use unnecessary, disproportionate, excessive and lethal force against the peaceful demonstrators participating in the Great Return March for the seventeenth consecutive week. The shooting of live bullets and gas canisters by Israeli soldiers, led to the death Muhammad Sharif Abd Al-Fatah Badwan, 24, who was killed by a live bullet to the chest. A further 74 civilians were injured with live bullets and tear gas canisters, including 21 children, two women and five journalists. Al-Haq also documented hundreds of cases of suffocation and fainting due to tear gas inhalation.

At approximately 7:00 pm in the area of Malka, east of Al-Zaitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza city, the IOF positioned behind hills, fired live bullets at Muhammad Sharif Abd Al-Fatah Badwan, 24, while he was peacefully demonstrating at a distance of about 100 meters from the border fence. Muhammad was wounded by a live bullet in the chest from the left side. He was transferred to Dar Al-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza City and was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Injuries during the Great Return March:  

In the northern Gaza Strip, east of Jabaliya, 16 protestors were injured, including seven children. Among the injured, seven were wounded by bullets and shrapnel and nine with tear gas canisters.

In the Gaza Governorate, in the area of Malka, east of Al-Zaitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza city, 19 civilians were injured with live ammunition, including four children and a woman.

In Central Gaza Governorate, east of Al-Breij Refugee Camp, 14 protestors, including two children were injured. Of these, 12 were injured from live bullets and two with tear gas canisters.

In Khan Younis Governorate, east of Khuza’a town, ten people were injured, including one child. Hiba Awwad, a journalist was hit with a tear gas canister in her hand. Among the injured, seven suffered live fire bullet injuries and three were injured from tear gas canisters.

An additional four civilians were shot with live bullets near their homes in Al-Qudaih neighborhood east of Abasan village, east of Khan Younis, as Israeli tanks fired indiscriminately at Palestinian houses.

In Rafah Governorate, east of the town of Al-Shawka east of Rafah, 15 protestors were injured, including seven children, a woman and freelance photographer, Zaki Yahya Zaki Awadallah, 27, who was shot by a live bullet in the legs. Among the injuries, ten were shot with live bullets and five with tear gas canisters.

20 July 2018: Three Killed in Military Site Bombing

On 20 July, at approximately 5:40 pm, the IOF fired several artillery shells at a monitoring post belonging to Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, located 300-400 meters from the edge of the Gaza Strip, east of Abasan Al-Kabira town, east of Khan Younis. The monitoring post is located 1,200 meters north of Al-Awda camp in the east of Khuza'a town. Muhammad Riad Abu Farhana, 32, Sha’ban Muhammad Abu Khatir, 26, were injured by shrapnel throughout their bodies. Meanwhile, the IOF fired artillery shells at a similar monitoring tower, east of Al-Shawka town, east of Rafah, killing Mahmoud Khalil Qashta, 26.

15 injured, including 7 children and 3 women, as a result of the bombing of 3 missiles in Al-Zaitoun neighborhood in Gaza city.

On 20 July 2018, at approximately 7:50 pm, Israeli planes bombed three rockets at Al-Rawda site of Al-Qassam Brigades, which is located in Al-Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, near the mosque of Ali Ibn Abi Talib. The bombing resulted in the injury of 15 civilians, including seven children and three women. At approximately 8:40 pm, IOF warplanes fired 14 missiles over 20 minutes at a training site belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades, located near Asdaa entertainment city, west of Khan Younis, which resulted in its complete destruction. At approximately 9:10 pm, IOF warplanes bombed a site belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades in Al-Breij Refugee Camp in Central Gaza.

The Israeli occupation forces announced that the bombing was in response to the killing of an Israeli soldier on the edge of the Gaza Strip, who was later pronounced dead.