An Israeli attack that hit a minibus in Gaza City killed 11 people from the same family, including seven minors and two women. This was reported by the spokesperson for the Civil Defense of Gaza, Mahmoud Basal, specifying that the attack was perpetrated yesterday, while the family was traveling on board a minibus and was returning home in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City.
«The vehicle was carrying eleven civilians, including seven minors and two women, all from the same family. It would have been possible to warn them or talk to them in a way that would not have led to their death,” Basal said in a statement. Yesterday afternoon, the Israeli army opened fire and bombed a minibus heading to Zeitun after it had crossed the so-called “yellow line”, the imaginary demarcation line until the withdrawal of troops at the start of the ceasefire in Gaza. The army said the vehicle was “suspicious” and had approached troops in a way that made them perceive it as “an imminent threat”. In this context, they first fired “warning shots” at the van and then “eliminated the threat”.
Today Hamas condemned the massacre, also denouncing it as a further violation of the ceasefire agreement. “This is a total crime that reveals the premeditated intention of the (Israeli) occupation to attack defenseless civilians without justification,” the Islamist group said in its statement.
The protocol of action of this army – troops can attack when they feel threatened and the method is warning shots – has led to numerous massacres of civilians in Gaza.
Since the signing of the ceasefire, more than 30 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza for crossing the so-called “yellow line”. In most cases, these are people who were trying to return to their homes, from which they had been displaced. The agreement signed by Hamas and Israel establishes that the truce covers the entire Gaza Strip and that the Israeli army must withdraw to the “yellow line”.
