Compiled crime: Israeli army blocks rescue efforts after air strikes on Khan Younis

The targeting of rescue teams and paramedics by the Israeli military during the evacuation of the wounded and extracts, which are caught in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza, under Schutblut represents a comprehensive war crime. indicate

These measures represent a serious violation of international humanitarian law, in particular the principles that prescribe the full protection of the wounded, the guarantee for their right to evacuation and treatment as well as the unhindered, safe access to auxiliary and rescue teams. This behavior is inextricably linked to Israel's wider abuse pattern in Gaza, which shows a clear intention to destroy the Palestinian population by systematic means: mass killing, siege, hunger, forced shift, destruction of the infrastructure and severe refusal of staple.

According to the field documentation, Israeli fighter planes bombed the multi-storey house of Abdul Karim al-Afghani on the evening of May 13, 2025, which is located east of Khan Younis. The building, in which at least 24 people – most of them women and children – were accommodated, was intensively aimed at the European Gaza Strip and its surroundings. The house is about 500 meters northwest of the hospital.

After the bombings, the civil protection teams arrived at the scene to regain corpses and search for survivors. Film material recorded rescuers who call to find someone. The voice of a young girl could be heard who asked for help. When a rescuer suddenly hit the sound, the Israeli fighter planes suddenly hit the same location again and aimed at the building and rescue team. The attack injured two civil defenders, while others were narrowly escaped. The team had to withdraw and left the child who had called for help.

The next day, the residents of the neighborhood of Al-Afghani entered urgent appeals for evacuation and rescue when Israeli aircraft continued to aim at everyone who is closer to the area of ​​unarmed civilians or rescue workers.

The Field Team from Euro-Med Monitor documented the recovery of 11 corpses from a single family on the first day, among more than 35 civilians who were killed in the strikes. However, the rescue teams had to withdraw because at least 14 family members, including 9 women and children, remained trapped under the ruins. The persistent air raids made it impossible to reach or help them.

The Israeli armed forces deliberately blocked all attempts by the victims and relatives of the victims to return to the website or even approach them.

The repeated targeting of the home and rescue teams can only be seen as an intentional decision to carry out the people who are still living under the ruins and to hinder all rescue efforts. This is a strong example of systematic masses and a clear intention to eradicate civilians – not only through bombing, but also by refusing a chance of survival.

Israeli air strikes have trapped the remaining survivors in a neighboring house and prevents them from leaving the area in the middle of a lack of food, water and medical care. This situation condemns you to slow, inevitable death under siege and bombing.

This prevents search and rescue teams in the past 19 months the wounded hundreds of times repeated the last 19 months before the deliberate killing of injured and captured civilians as well as non-threatening wounded persons who go to death under the ruins. Aus, and contribute to the continued genocide, which has been committed by Israel since October 7, 2023.

The international community has to use urgently specialized teams and mechanisms to remove rubble from bombed houses and buildings, to save those who still live under the ruins and to restore the bodies of thousands that have been died since the beginning of the genocide.

All states, both individually and together, must fulfill their legal responsibility by taking urgent measures to stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip by implementing effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians. Guarantee of compliance with Israel with international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice; and to blame Israel for his crimes against the Palestinians. The International Criminal Court must accelerate its investigation, issue arrest warrants against Israeli civil servants who are involved in international crimes in Gaza and officially recognize these actions as genocide.

The international community also has to impose economic, diplomatic and military sanctions against Israel for its systematic and serious violations of international law. These sanctions should include a weapon embargo; an end to all political, financial and military support; Freezing the assets of civil servants who are involved in crimes against Palestinians; imposing travel bans; And the exception of trade privileges and bilateral agreements that offer Israel economic advantages that enable its continued crimes.

Countries with universal court courts must arrest arrest warrants for Israeli political and military leaders who are involved in genocide and even initiate legal proceedings in the absence in order to fulfill their international legal obligation to prosecute serious crimes and to combat impunity.