Israel Pounds Crowded Gaza Marketplace, Kills 17

Israel Announced 'Humanitarian Lull,' Then Ignored It

Earlier today, the Israeli military announced a four-hour “humanitarian lull” in the Gaza Strip, giving civilians in the strip a chance to go out and try to find food at the marketplaces, or so they thought.

Instead, Israel let hundreds of civilians pour into the Shejaiya marketplace and then attacked it long before the truce expired, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding 160 others.

It was one of several Israeli attacks reported during the four-hour “lull,” almost entirely focusing on civilian targets, and by all accounts so far killing exclusively civilians.

Displaced civilians were already reeling after Israel attacked a UN-run hospital packed full of civilians overnight, killing at least 19 other civilians there. The Israeli government has yet to respond to the marketplace attack, but continues to talk up escalation of the war.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.