As part of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Israeli army targeted the Juha family’s home without warning or military necessity. The attack resulted in a massacre of 90 civilians, including 71 women and children. Dozens more were wounded, a Euro-Med Monitor investigation has revealed.
The NGO has called for political and economic sanctions against Israel, an immediate halt to all arms sales, exports and military and intelligence assistance, and the termination of all licences and agreements related to the import and export of weapons – including dual-use materials and technology – that could be used against the Palestinian people.
According to the NGO’s report, the Israeli military launched a massive assault against Palestinian civilians in the eastern parts of Gaza City shortly after the first truce ended in early December 2023. This assault included an attack on the Juha family building located in the densely populated Sha’af area which, along with the Shujaya district, was a focus of the offensive.
In one of the most horrifying massacres carried out by Israel during its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in the Strip, Israeli warplanes targeted the Juha family’s home in the Tuffah neighbourhood east of Gaza City on the morning of 6 December 2023. At least one bomb was dropped on the house, a compound with two adjacent buildings. The unexpected attack completely destroyed the building, killing all of its occupants.
Investigations revealed that 117 people were living in the building at the time of the attack, with women, children and the elderly being the majority. This count included both the primary occupants and several relatives who had been forcibly relocated from the Zeitoun neighbourhood.
Most of the occupants were killed by the bombing, while others were wounded. Some were dragged out from under the debris, and others were thrown outside by the force of the explosion. At least 17 people suffered burns, wounds and fractures, with some having to have limbs amputated.
The explosion ripped apart the bodies of many victims, leaving their remains lying across the street and even on the roofs of buildings nearby. Over 34 bodies remain buried beneath the rubble, while 56 bodies were recovered.
During rescue efforts, residents faced significant challenges, particularly because communication with ambulances or civil defence teams was nearly impossible due to disruptions in internet and communications services. With no official response, the Juha family and local residents took it upon themselves to rescue victims using only their hands and basic tools.
The Euro-Med Monitor team conducted multiple field surveys of the main site. The investigations involved gathering testimonies from witnesses and survivors, documenting the extent of the destruction and the types of weapons used, and analysing the attack in relation to other incidents in the area.
For accurate information, the team interviewed local residents who were eyewitnesses and nine survivors of the massacre. Euro-Med Monitor reviewed satellite images and aerial photos that documented the state of the building and the surrounding area before and after the attack, as well as photographs and video clips provided by eyewitnesses. The team found no evidence of any military presence, such as military installations or armed elements, inside or near the Juha family home before or during the attack.
READ: Israel’s deputy Knesset speaker calls for killing ‘subhuman’ Palestinians
Since the publication of the investigation, Israel has not issued any public statements about the targeting or provided proof that there were any military targets within the building when it was bombed.
The report concludes that the principles of distinction, proportionality and the duty to take necessary precautions – standards that Israel is legally required to uphold – were seriously violated. The timing of the attack, the types of munitions used, and the widespread indiscriminate destruction are deemed unjustifiable.
Euro-Med Monitor asserts that the targeting of the Juha family represents a grave violation of international humanitarian law, constituting multiple war crimes against civilians and civilian property. These actions are described not only as fully-fledged crimes against humanity but also as part of a large-scale, organised military assault on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip that began in October 2023.
The report further highlights that, in addition to the systematic and large-scale destruction of homes and shelters, the targeting of the Juha family home is emblematic of a broader pattern. This pattern includes the partial or complete destruction of 436,000 homes (roughly 92 per cent of the homes in the Gaza Strip) and the killing of over 54,000 Palestinians, most of whom were inside their homes, indicating a deliberate strategy by Israel to target Palestinian civilians and infrastructure.
These events show a pattern of systematic and recurrent military attacks that are based on a plan that cannot be justified by any military necessity. This pattern indicates that there is a deliberate strategy to attack Palestinian civilians directly and collectively, while simultaneously destroying large numbers of homes and shelters, as two complementary strategies to accomplish a single goal: the elimination of the Palestinian population in the Strip.
Based on its findings, Euro-Med Monitor urges the relevant international parties to pressure Israel to allow international and UN investigation and inquiry committees into the Gaza Strip, in compliance with international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice. The report calls for prompt, independent and unbiased investigations into the targeting of civilians in the Juha family massacre and all other crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The investigation also urges the International Criminal Court to examine all of Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip, including the murder of the Juha family. It also calls for the extension of criminal responsibility to all perpetrators, the issuance of arrest warrants and trials in compliance with international law and the Rome Statute.
In accordance with Article 6 of the Rome Statute, the report calls on the International Criminal Court to recognise the events in the Gaza Strip collectively as a crime of genocide and to treat Israel’s actions with the seriousness they warrant.
The report further demands that all nations cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigations by providing specialised factual and legal memoranda on the crimes committed by Israel, refraining from interfering with its work, and assisting in executing arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
OPINION: A hypocritical world and the new generation of resistance