Human Rights Watch says US arms had been utilized in ‘illegal indiscriminate’ Israeli assaults that killed Palestinian civilians.
Israel has used US-made bombs in “illegal assaults” on colleges sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has mentioned.
In a report launched Thursday, HRW mentioned Israel had carried out a whole lot of strikes on colleges for the reason that begin of its warfare on Gaza in October 2023, together with “unlawfully indiscriminate assaults” utilizing US munitions, which violated worldwide legislation.
In its report, HRW investigated two incidents in 2024 through which it discovered that GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs equipped by the US had been used. One assault on the Khadija women’ college in Deir el-Balah on July 27, 2024, killed a minimum of 15 individuals, and one other assault on the Zeitoun C college in Gaza Metropolis on September 21, 2024, left a minimum of 34 lifeless.
Israeli authorities haven’t publicly shared data regarding the assaults. Israel has typically mentioned that its assaults on colleges had been concentrating on Hamas fighters. It has supplied no proof to point the presence of navy targets on the websites of the assaults documented by the rights group.
In each assaults, HRW and that there was no proof of a navy presence on the colleges on the times of the assaults.
The rights group additionally warned that current Israeli assaults on colleges sheltering displaced individuals had been worsening the dire humanitarian state of affairs within the territory.
HRW mentioned that from July 1-10, 2025, Israeli forces struck a minimum of 10 colleges the place displaced individuals had been sheltering, killing 59 individuals and displacing dozens of households, based on the UN Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The group emphasised that colleges used to accommodate civilians stay protected underneath worldwide legislation except used for navy functions.
The rights group known as for a right away halt to arms transfers to Israel, warning of potential complicity by governments offering navy assist.
“These strikes on colleges sheltering displaced households are only one window into the carnage in Gaza,” mentioned Gerry Simpson, affiliate director at HRW. “Different governments mustn’t tolerate this horrendous slaughter of Palestinian civilians merely searching for security.”
It additionally urged states to uphold their obligations underneath worldwide legislation, together with the Genocide Conference.
“Governments supporting Israel militarily can’t say they didn’t know what their weapons are getting used for,” mentioned Simpson.
Based on the United Nations, almost 1 million displaced Palestinians have taken shelter in Gaza’s colleges since October 2023.
HRW mentioned the repeated concentrating on of civilian infrastructure, together with shelters, hospitals and colleges, confirmed a sample of assaults that will quantity to warfare crimes.
HRW famous that almost all of Gaza’s 564 colleges have sustained harm, with 92 % requiring full reconstruction or main repairs.
The UN has reported that a minimum of 836 individuals sheltering in colleges have been killed.