Israeli crimes escalate, Gaza faces catastrophic situation

OIC secretariat in Jeddah

Jeddah, 06-05-2025 - Recent statements by the occupying forces and media reports over the past week indicate Israel's intent to escalate its actions in the Gaza Strip. The mobilization of tens of thousands of reserve soldiers, the announcement to extend the duration of the war, and plans to reduce aid while increasing control over an already isolated Gaza suggest a strategy aimed at maintaining its presence in the region for the coming months. This raises concerns about a potential humanitarian disaster that could be even more severe than the already deteriorating situation. Data shows that the Israeli occupying army is attempting to turn the exceptionally tragic circumstances faced by the people of the Gaza Strip into a "fait accompli."

Recent developments have seen occupying forces targeting farmers in Beit Lahia and fishermen along the coast of Khan Yunis. This strategy aims to deprive Palestinians of vital food sources following Israel's complete closure of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources have reported the deaths of 53 children due to malnutrition. 

The World Health Organization, Amnesty International, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have unanimously declared the situation in the Gaza Strip to be catastrophic, highlighting a significant international failure to address the crisis. UNRWA has stated that these actions amount to collective punishment against the residents of Gaza. 

In its weekly report on Israeli crimes against Palestinians, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Media Observatory recorded 258 killings and 840 wounded between April 29 and May 5, 2025. Over the course of seven days, a total of 2,470 Israeli crimes against Palestinians were documented. Since October 07, 2023, a total of 53,503 Palestinians have been slaughtered, and 125,191 wounded.

The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque has been subjected to daily raids by occupation forces, who have stormed the Marwani prayer hall within the mosque's courtyards. Their intention is to prevent filming during students’ recitation of the Noble Quran. Additionally, the extremist minister in the occupying government, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has decided to close the offices of the Al-Quds Fund and Endowment for six months. Furthermore, occupation forces raided the Ibn Hanbal Mosque while conducting operations in the village of Ras Atiya in Qalqilya, confiscating the mosque's loudspeaker under the pretext of disturbing settlers.

In the cities and villages of the West Bank and occupied Al-Quds, there were a total of 374 Israeli raids. During these operations, the occupation forces arrested 157 Palestinians, including seven children, and injured ten others. One notable incident involved a raid on a girls' school in the Ras area of Beita, Nablus, where the occupation forces removed the doors. They also targeted a school in the village of Umm Salamuna, Bethlehem, where the Palestinian flag was taken down. Additionally, approximately 130 members of the teaching staff from schools in the northern Jordan Valley and about 150 staff members from schools in Jericho were prevented from passing through the Hamra checkpoint in the governorate.

Israeli occupation forces demolished 11 homes across Al-Quds, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron. They raided the UNRWA office in Jenin, causing damage to its contents. Additionally, they demolished a car wash and six barns in Hebron and filled in a water well. Palestinian families were forced to evacuate their homes in the Al-Ain refugee camp, where a residential building was converted into a military barracks. New evacuation orders were also issued for Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp, which has faced numerous raids. Furthermore, several former prisoners and journalists were arrested.

Between April 29 and May 5, 2025, 13 settlement activities were reported. The Israeli occupation forces issued a plan to allocate land in the Wadi al-Hamra site, located in the village of Husan, for the construction of facilities in the Beitar Illit settlement, which was established on land occupied in 1967. This plan also includes the establishment of fuel stations.

In Sinjil, the Israeli occupation forces erected poles in preparation for constructing a 2-kilometer-long barbed wire fence that will separate the towns of Sinjil and Turmus Ayya from the Ramallah-Nablus Road. In the Khirbet al-Deir area of Tubas, settlers placed cement blocks around several springs to control access and prevent Palestinians from using the water for irrigation.

Additionally, settlers have paved a settlement road and conducted extensive excavation work on Palestinian lands in the Wadi al-Asira area, which is located on the eastern side of Tel Ma'in, east of the town of Yatta. This work aims to expand the planned "Avigal" settlement outpost. Furthermore, settlement road construction has progressed south of Bethlehem.

In Qusra, a town in Nablus, settlers began to pave a dirt road and erected a fence around agricultural land located east of Yatta. They also set up a mobile room in this area, preventing landowners from accessing their property.

Settlers have bulldozed a section of agricultural land to widen the roads of the "Bracha" settlement in the village of Iraq Burin, located in Nablus. Additionally, others have erected new arbors near Palestinian homes in the al-Farisiya area of Tubas, tents on top of Mount Gerizim, and tents in the village of Duma, also in Nablus. In the al-Sir area, they have planted olive trees and raised flags of the occupying forces.

Attacks by settlers on Palestinian towns and villages reached 75 incidents over the course of seven days. Settlers entered agricultural lands and cut down, uprooted, and burned several olive trees in the village of Ramin in Tulkarm, the village of Duma in Nablus, and al-Rikiz in Hebron. They also grazed their sheep on Palestinian agricultural lands in the Umm al-Quba area in Tubas, the village of al-Minya in Bethlehem, and the Masafer Yatta area in Hebron.

In addition, they destroyed solar panels intended for energy generation in the village of al-Nasariyya in Nablus and in Khirbet al-Deir in Tubas. They damaged tents, slashed the tires of a water tanker, and stole 70 heads of cattle from the village of al-Nasariyya. They also seized a water pump in Khirbet al-Deir and a 4-kilometer water pipeline in the villages of al-Maleh and Khirbet Yarza in Tubas. Furthermore, they stole a tractor in the village of Ramin in Tulkarm, as well as a coffee pot and three cell phones in the village of Bziq in Tubas. – OIC News