Hospitals, Schools, Churches and Mosques Remain Targets of Israeli Bombing and Storming
From July 15 to 21, 2025, the Gaza Strip witnessed a horrific escalation in the Israeli occupation’s aggression, as the number of Palestinians murdered during this period reached 646 martyrs, with 3,101 others injured in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif. Among the victims were large numbers of children and women. This brings the overall toll since October 7, 2023 to 60,544 Palestinians murdered and more than 150,820 others wounded in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Al-Quds Al-Sharif, in a continuous escalation of crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
The Gaza Strip is groaning under starvation, bombardment and daily targeting of civilians and infrastructure, while the people of the West Bank and Jerusalem are facing further displacement and attacks on land and holy sites.
In its weekly report for the monitoring period, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Media Observatory on Israeli crimes against Palestinians notes that the Israeli occupation machine deliberately destroys all elements of life, giving no sanctity to health or educational facility; hospitals, schools, churches and mosques have become targets for Israeli bombing and storming. The Holy Family Latin Church in Gaza City was shelled by the Israeli occupation, resulting in the killing of 3 Palestinians and the injury of at least 10 others.
The OIC’s media observatory documented that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip continues at an unprecedented pace. As confirmed by UNRWA, Israel is starving one million children among the besieged Gaza population, and the severity of malnutrition among children has reached its highest historical levels. The UN agency confirmed that 74,000 children have been screened for malnutrition, identifying nearly 5,500 cases of global acute malnutrition and more than 800 cases of severe acute malnutrition. Meanwhile, a medical source at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital reported the death of a one-and-a-half-year-old girl from starvation in Deir al-Balah.
Hundreds of acutely hungry and malnourished patients are arriving at hospitals in Gaza, which are unable to cope due to a catastrophic shortage of medicines, medical staff and essential resources. According to the Global Protection Cluster report, there is no safe place in Gaza, with hostilities ongoing in unprotected environment, with more than 40,000 children injured during the Israeli aggression. UNRWA emphasizes that the occupation murders the equivalent of an entire classroom of children every day, an average of 35-45 children per classroom.
The International Protection Cluster further noted that 90 percent of Gaza’s population is living the tragedy of repeated forced displacement, mostly the elderly and people with disabilities. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) describes how people are risking their lives for minimal food and water with no security, while the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that pregnant women and mothers are starving and giving birth to their children in extremely harsh conditions.
The famine is worsening as the Gaza Strip reaches catastrophic proportions: more than 90 percent of the population is unable to put food on the table, and one in three children suffers from acute and chronic malnutrition. The OIC’s Media Observatory’s weekly report further confirms the occupation’s continued targeting of civilians in aid distribution areas, in addition to the repeated and systematic targeting of tents for the displaced and hospitals, the demolition of houses on top of their inhabitants and random raids that affect every neighborhood. The Israeli occupation also continued its aggression of deliberate destruction of vital infrastructure, especially water and electricity sources, complicating the situation of civilians fleeing from death and searching for safety.
The Israeli army committed one of the most heinous massacres last Sunday against starving civilians waiting for aid in the northern Gaza Strip. According to the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli soldiers ordered them to raise their hands, and then opened fire, murdering 67 and injuring dozens as they tried to get a bag of flour. The total number of aid martyrs in Gaza has reached more than 1,017 Palestinians murdered and more than 6,400 injured. Meanwhile, one million displaced Palestinians are now threatened with thirst, after the main desalination plant north of Gaza City ceased operations completely.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the United Kingdom and 25 international partners called on Israel to stop the war in Gaza now and immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid. The statement endorsed by Britain and the foreign ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management categorically rejected proposals to transfer the Palestinian population to a “humanitarian city” as completely unacceptable and that permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.
In the West Bank and occupied Al-Quds, the scenes were no less tragic. Palestinian cities and towns witnessed widespread arrests and raids by the Israeli occupation, accompanied by the demolition of citizens’ homes, uprooting trees and bulldozing agricultural lands, while the establishment and expansion of settlements is accelerating.
For more than 163 days, the Israeli occupation forces have been demolishing 104 buildings and houses and displacing more than 25,000 Palestinians in Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps. The Palestinian regions are also witnessing a wide campaign of arrests and raids in the West Bank and Al-Quds, in addition to direct repression, breaking into homes, abusing Palestinians, vandalizing property, demolishing homes in Al-Quds and forcing families to self-demolish to avoid exorbitant fines.
According to the Department of Islamic Endowments in Al-Quds, settlers carried out more than 25 incursions during the month of June, driven by the escalating calls from extremist “Temple Mount” groups that regularly urge to storm Al-Aqsa and perform Talmudic rituals inside its courtyards. This is part of attempts to change the historical and legal reality of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid an Israeli campaign to close UNRWA facilities and deprive more than 200,000 Palestinian refugees of vital services.
The Israeli press reported the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to withdraw the Palestinian powers to manage the Ibrahimi Mosque and transfer them to the Jewish religious council in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. This decision was met with widespread condemnation from the international community.
Forced displacement continues as a result of settler attacks supported by the Israeli occupation army, with the burning of agricultural lands and theft of livestock. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority, during the first half of 2025, settlers carried out more than 2153 attacks, which resulted in the killing of 4 Palestinians by settlers. The attacks included assaults on Palestinian villages, burning houses, shooting at Palestinians, establishing settlement outposts, controlling Palestinian lands, and attacking streets and vehicles.
The total number of Israeli violations during the monitored period between July 15 and 21 totaled 4,735 crimes distributed between the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Al-Quds, while the number of violations since October 7, 2023 exceeded 294,205.