Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, November 13, 2018
Within the last 48 hours, the Gaza Strip has witnessed a military escalation, where the Israeli forces have unprecedentedly used warplanes and artillery shells since the 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip. This escalation has started after an Israeli special undercover unit “Mista’arvim” infiltrated the day before yesterday, 11 November 2018, Khan Younis in the Southern Gaza Strip and killed 7 members of the Palestinian armed groups, mainly a commander in al-Qassam Brigades from Khan Younis, creating a state of maximum alter among the Palestinian armed groups and tension among the Palestinian civilians. This undercover operation was followed by barrages of rockets launched deep into the Israeli cities adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Since Monday afternoon, 12 November 2018, and until the reporting period, upon a decision by the highest Israeli military and political echelons, the Israeli forces carried out intense airstrikes against many civilian facilities and residential houses in addition to sites belonging to the security services and others to the Palestinian armed groups. The Israeli artillery shelling also targeted the areas adjacent to the border fence with Israel. It should be noted that the Israeli forces launched missiles via drones towards the houses intended to be targeted (warning missiles) and then launched missiles via F16 warplanes to destroy the houses as the residents could barely leave them without taking any of their belongings. The incidents were as follows…