Nuseirat refugee camp massacre

This article is about the casualties. For the hostages, see 2024 Nuseirat rescue operation.

Nuseirat refugee camp massacre
Part of the Israel–Hamas war
Nuseirat refugee camp Location within the Gaza Strip
Location	Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Date	8 June 2024
Attack type	Raid, airstrikes, massacre
Deaths	At least 276 Palestinians killed (per Palestinian health officials) Less than 100 Palestinian casualties (Per IDF)
Injured	Over 698 Palestinians
Victims	Palestinian civilians and militants
Perpetrators	Israel Defense Forces United States (alleged support)

On 8 June 2024, the Israeli military killed at least 276 people and injured over 698, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian health officials, during a hostage rescue operation in the UNRWA Nuseirat refugee camp. The operation's objective was to free multiple hostages taken during the 7 October attack on Israel. The Israeli military acknowledged fewer than 100 Palestinian deaths.

The operation reportedly involved hundreds of ground troops and a heavy initial bombardment on the camp. According to the IDF, violence further escalated when the IDF vehicle carrying three hostages broke down, leading to intense firefights, airstrikes, and naval support. Wounded civilians were taken to the Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital, though Al-Aqsa was reportedly overwhelmed with casualties and experienced communications disruptions due to the intense Israeli bombing.

While the Israeli military was praised for its successful rescue of four Israeli hostages, it was condemned for the high civilian death toll. Both humanitarian organizations and governments described the assault as a massacre, and the United Nations stated the IDF may have committed war crimes. In its defense, Israel said it was targeting Hamas militants who took part in the 7 October attack.

Background

The Nuseirat refugee camp is a long standing UNRWA refugee camp located in the middle of the Gaza Strip, in Deir al-Balah. The camp has been repeatedly bombed during the Israel–Hamas war, with over a hundred Palestinians killed in the attacks. The most recent attack on the camp (on 6 June) occurred only days before the rescue operation, with IDF forces striking the UNRWA school in the camp, killing 37 people, including 14 children. It is unclear how many of this number were civilians.

Operation

Initial bombardment and rescue operation

On 8 June 2024 around midday, the Israeli army initiated a rescue operation for hostages taken during the 7 October attack. According to Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the rescue mission took place in the heart of the residential neighborhood in the Nuseirat refugee camp, where four hostages were reportedly kept in two separate residential apartment blocks. According to Omar Ashour, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Israeli forces first launched heavy operations on Deir al-Balah and Bureij to draw out militants and obscure its intentions, and then launch an intense assault on Nuseirat.

The operation reportedly involved hundreds of troops and heavy air support that hit the refugee camp. According to witnesses, Israeli military vehicles unexpectedly moved into the camp, with the movement coinciding with heavy bombardment of large areas of the camp. Journalists on the ground also described an intense bombardment, including airstrikes, live ammunition from nearby warships, and artillery shelling.

Special forces entered the refugee camp posing as Palestinian refugees fleeing Rafah, according to Israeli security sources. They reportedly told locals that they were escaping the Israeli assault on Rafah, and Palestinian locals stated that other forces entered in humanitarian trucks. A witness stated Israeli specialized forces had arrived with furniture on their vehicle to appear like refugees, and then, "The operative got out two ladders and came into our home fully armed. Chaos erupted with gunfire and explosions".

Firefight and airstrikes

According to the IDF, after the Israeli forces had recovered the hostages, at least one of their vehicles broke down. The Israeli military then called in support, "attacking from the air, from the sea and on the ground with massive force." A witness in the camp reported a "crazy bombardment" occurred suddenly. Footage showed Palestinians in the market area diving for cover as missiles flew in and gunfire erupted, and a witness who had been in the marketplace stated that about 150 rockets fell at and around the market place in less than 10 minutes. According to witnesses and video footage, the strikes destroyed apartment buildings and even entire residential blocks throughout the camp.

Per a resident and paramedic in the camp, the assault felt like a "horror movie" and that Israeli drones and warplanes fired randomly throughout the night at peoples' homes and those who tried to flee the area. One witness stated, "Anyone who was moving in the street was killed". Videos showed corpses with entrails spilling out lying on blood-stained streets, although Reuters was unable to immediately verify the footage.

An Israeli drone commander reported that after an initial attack "to drive civilians away", Israel considered anyone who did not flee to be a "terrorist", even if they were unarmed.

Many individual testimonies of eyewitnesses who survived the intense fire-fight have been collected, according to Mondoweiss. In the aftermath, one woman stated, "We don’t know where the children are. We lost them, and now we are being displaced for a third time with no idea where to go." Witnesses described being able to hear people buried under the rubble, but being unable to help rescue them.

Casualties

Trucks and ambulances rushed wounded people to Al-Aqsa Hospital for treatment. Prior to the operation, the hospital had already been overwhelmed with civilian casualties. A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) representative described the situation at Al-Aqsa as a "nightmare." An MSF paediatric intensive care doctor at Al-Asqa stated the emergency department was a "complete bloodbath… it looks like a slaughterhouse". The same doctor stated only one generator at the hospital was functioning, meaning ventilators, lights, and the internet were not working. Another MSF doctor stated, "We had the gamut of war wounds, trauma wounds, from amputations... to [traumatic brain injuries], fractures and, obviously, big burns". Two weeks after the incident, many of the wounded remained in the hospital. Severely injured patients requiring advanced surgeries were unable to leave Gaza to receive them, due to Gaza's borders being closed.

The total number of casualties are disputed, with Israeli and Palestinian totals differing drastically. The Gaza Health Ministry and local health officials stated at least 274 Palestinians were killed and 698 were wounded due to the Israeli rescue operation. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that Israel was aware of "under 100" Palestinians who had been killed in the operation. Neither the Health Ministry nor IDF clarified how many casualties were civilians. The Gazan Health Ministry reported that 64 children and 57 women were killed.

According to Hamas, several Israeli hostages were killed in the Israeli attack. The group stated in a video clip that three hostages were killed during the operation, including an American. The Israeli military denied that any hostages were killed during the operation.

U.S. involvement

In the immediate aftermath of the operation, the United States was accused of allowing its humanitarian pier to be used by the IDF. This accusation arose after video footage showed an IDF helicopter taking off from a beach with the humanitarian-aid pier in the background. Two U.S. officials denied this. In a statement, the Pentagon spokesperson stated that Israeli helicopters used an area "near" the pier. Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian aid coordinator, stated that if the allegations were true, "they are very concerning, because they would put at risk any future humanitarian engagement in that operation". Both Israeli and American officials confirmed that U.S. intelligence assisted the Israeli military for its rescue.

Impacts

The World Food Programme paused its operation with the U.S. humanitarian pier due to security concerns. UN human rights experts condemned the Israeli forces for allegedly hiding in aid trucks that came from the US humanitarian aid pier, describing the action as a war crime. The UN Human Rights Office also said that both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes, citing potential "violations of rules of proportionality, distinction and precaution" in the case of the former and "holding hostages in densely populated areas" for the latter.

Reactions

See also: 2024 Nuseirat rescue operation § Reactions

Domestic

• Hamas: Abu Obaida, the spokesman for the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades, condemned the raid and called it a "complex war crime".
• Israel: Minister Israel Katz stated, "Only Israel’s enemies complained about the casualties of Hamas terrorists and their accomplices."
• Palestine: President Mahmoud Abbas instructed the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations to request an emergency session to the UN Security Council to discuss the repercussions of the operation and resulting deaths. Abbas emphasized the "urgent need for international intervention to halt the humanitarian catastrophe."

International

Governments

• Cuba: Foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez stated, "We condemn in the strongest terms the massacre carried out by the Israeli army in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza."
• Egypt: The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated the killing of civilians was "a flagrant violation of all rules of international law".
• Indonesia: The country condemned the "repeated atrocities" committed by Israel in Gaza, including in the Nuseirat refugee camp, and called for an immediate ceasefire.
• Jordan: The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called "on the international community and especially the Security Council to take immediate and urgent action to stop Israel's war crimes in Gaza."
• Kuwait: The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the killing of civilians, calling it a "heinous crime".
• Lebanon: The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the operation a massacre.
• Norway: Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik called the attack "another massacre of civilians in Gaza".
• Turkey: The Turkish Foreign Ministry called the killing of civilians a "barbaric attack".
• United States: The National Security Advisor stated, "Israel should be operating in a way, not just consistent with the laws of war, but taking extra precautions to try to protect civilians". The U.S. vice president, Kamala Harris, stated she was "thankful" the four hostages were reunited with their families; she also stated "we mourn" the innocent people killed in Gaza, including those "tragically killed" during the raid.

Supranational

• United Nations: United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres described the aftermath in graphic detail including the scenes of "shredded bodies on the ground." Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, said, "Countries that celebrate the release of four Israeli hostages without saying a word about the hundreds of Palestinians killed and thousands held in arbitrary detention by Israel, have lost moral credibility for generations and don’t deserve to be on any U.N. human rights body." UN human rights experts condemned what they described as the "umpteenth massacre by Israeli forces in Gaza" and condemned the Israeli forces for hiding in humanitarian aid trucks that were coming from the US humanitarian-aid pier. The U.N. Human Rights Office described possible war crimes committed during the operation, including possible violations of the rules of proportionality, distinction and precaution.
• European Union: Top European Union diplomat Joseph Borrell described the operation as a massacre.
• Organization of Islamic Cooperation: In a statement, the OIC condemned "the horrific massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation army, which resulted in the murder and injury of hundreds of Palestinians".
• Gulf Cooperation Council: Secretary-General Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi described the operation as a "terrorist crime that targeted unarmed civilians with unprecedented barbarism."
• Arab Parliament: In a statement, the Arab Parliament condemned the operation, describing it as a massacre.

Humanitarian aid groups

• The Palestine Red Crescent Society denounced the use of a humanitarian aid truck as a disguise for military operations, labeling it as a "violation of international humanitarian and customary law" and noting that such actions constitute perfidy, which is considered a war crime.
• The Doctors Without Borders coordinator in Gaza asked, "How many more men, women and children have to be killed before world leaders decide to put an end to this massacre?" According to Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a Doctors Without Border pediatrician, colleagues in the emergency department at Al-Asqa hospital described the situation by "repeating the word massacre, massacre, massacre over and over again."
• Oxfam called the attack a "horrifying" massacre and an "unacceptable and unconscionable price to pay".

Other

• Saul Takahashi, a professor at Osaka Jogakuin University and a former deputy for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated, "The claim that the Israeli attack on Nuseirat camp was justified is completely ignorant of international law. Israel has shown itself time and time again that it does not care about international and humanitarian laws."
• Kenneth Roth, the former director of Human Rights Watch and a professor at Princeton University, stated the attack was "inconsistent with the duty to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians harm."

See also

• Refugee camp airstrikes in the Israel–Hamas war
• 2024 Nuseirat rescue operation
• August 2024 Deir el-Balah attacks
• List of massacres in the Palestinian territories
• Israeli war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war