As a result of Israel's targeting of a hospital in Gaza today, where mostly women, elderly and children were present, many civilian lives were lost. Especially in recent days, Israel's disproportionate use of force on Gaza, bombardment of settlements where civilians are located, targeting civilians without discriminating between children, elderly and women has turned into a massacre in front of the eyes of the whole world. Israel's unconscionable, widespread and systematic bombardment of innocent civilian areas such as hospitals and schools, which has killed thousands of civilians and injured many more, clearly constitutes a crime against humanity.

According to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols and the rules of jus in bello, civilian areas should not be targeted even during war, and a military intervention should not be carried out if it is expected to cause civilian casualties or injuries to civilians according to the expected military gains. However, Israel's disregard of all these international and humanitarian law rules and especially targeting civilian areas, without any reference to children, elderly and women, is clearly an indication that a war crime has been committed.

As the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye, we strongly condemn this massacre in Gaza, which has turned into a humanitarian drama, and call on the international community to take action in the name of human rights and human dignity against these murderous acts of Israel.