20 August 2026
Press Release
Al-Dameer: The Genocide Continues in Gaza with the Continued Targeting of Civilians
Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights-Gaza states that the crimes of the Israeli occupation are escalating day after day, as it continues the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, despite the announcement of a ceasefire agreement, international calls, and the commitments of the guarantors to halt the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupation forces launched a series of deadly military attacks during 18 and 19 August 2026, resulting in the killing of 17 citizens and the injury of dozens of others, including children, women, and displaced persons, in densely populated civilian areas and areas sheltering displaced persons. This reality reflects the failure of the mediators to ensure the implementation of the agreement or to compel the occupation authorities to respect their obligations.
According to Al-Dameer’s monitoring and field follow-up, at approximately 1:58 p.m. yesterday, Wednesday, 19 August 2026, Israeli occupation aircraft targeted a motorcycle traveling along Al-Raees Street in the Ard Abu Salim Camp area, west of Al-Nuseirat Camp. The attack resulted in the killing of citizen Sobhi Sami Mahmoud Shehtout, 30, who arrived at Al-Awda Hospital in pieces, according to a statement by sources at the hospital.
At approximately 2:25 p.m. on the same day, Israeli occupation aircraft targeted the former Municipal Police headquarters, located behind the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology building near the Municipal Park, west of Gaza City. The area shelters displaced persons. The attack resulted in the killing of eight members of the Palestinian police and a displaced child: Colonel Fatina Abdul Jabbar Al-Sahhar – Director of the Women’s Police in Gaza City; Brigadier General Ayman Mahmoud Jundiya – Director of Gaza Police; First Lieutenant Samaher Misbah Abdul Hadi Hamada (Al-Ajal) – Women’s Police; Lieutenant Colonel Othman Shehata Mohammed Abu Samaan – Gaza Police; Brigadier General Ibrahim Abdul Rahman Tamraz – Gaza Police; Colonel Osama Hashem Abu Al-Hijeen – Director of Operations of Gaza Police; Colonel Alaa Ali Alyan – Gaza Police; Lieutenant Colonel Hazem Jabr Khalaf; and the child Dana Haitham Omran Al-Jamasi. Fifteen citizens were also injured, including three women and four children.
In the same context, on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, at approximately 5:57 p.m., the occupation forces targeted a café known as “Ala Helwa Wal Morra” on the Fishermen’s Port jetty, west of Gaza City, where a number of citizens and displaced persons were present. The shelling resulted in the killing of seven citizens, including a child: Mohammed Hamdy Ahmed Al-Masri, 38; the child Jihad Mohammed Hamdy Al-Masri, 13; Issam Mohammed Mousa Murtaja, 31; Mahmoud Fathi Hussein Nasser, 30; Samid Samir Harb Abu Habal, 33; Mohammed Najeeb Issa Al-Attar, 29; and Musab Mohammed Hassan Madi, 24. Fourteen citizens were also injured, including a woman and two children, three of whom are in critical condition and receiving treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital. According to the testimony of an eyewitness who was present at his nearby stall, he heard two consecutive explosions before rushing to the site, where he found the dead and injured and blood at the targeted location, including children and women. He explained that the targeted café was a small and modest facility, made of iron pipes and covered with tarpaulin, serving beverages to citizens, and that some of those killed fell into the sea before citizens were able to retrieve them and transfer them to ambulances.
Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights considers that the repetition of these attacks amid the continuation of the war, siege, and complete collapse of the protection system cannot be treated as merely new numbers added to the daily toll of victims. It requires rapid and urgent intervention and the adoption of genuine and serious measures to stop the occupation from targeting civilians and to ensure respect for its obligations.
The continuation of these crimes without taking serious measures to stop them sends a dangerous message that killing and destruction will continue amid the absence of accountability and prosecution. Accordingly, Al-Dameer calls upon the mediators and influential states to assume their political and legal responsibilities and to exert immediate and serious pressure on Israel to stop targeting civilians and places sheltering displaced persons. It also calls upon the international community and the United Nations to take urgent and effective measures to ensure the protection of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and not to limit their response to verbal condemnation.
Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights – Gaza