Gaza: Israel deliberately militarizes civilian objects, turns schools into military bases
Palestinian Territory - As part of its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, ongoing for the seventh month now, the Israeli army has militarized civilian objects, including schools and educational facilities. Israel’s turning of these facilities into military bases is in flagrant violation of international law and the rules of war.
The Israeli army was not satisfied with its systematic and widespread bombing and massive destruction of schools, committing of serious crimes against civilians who were sheltering inside them, and deliberate targeting of these vulnerable people with air and ground military operations, killings, and direct unlawful executions.
Instead, it converted a number of schools into military bases, gathering places for its forces and vehicles, detention and interrogation centres, and torture facilities. This is in violation of both international humanitarian law, which was established to protect civilian objects from the danger of military operations, and the obligations placed on Israel as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which require taking the necessary measures to ensure that children who are orphaned or separated from their families as a result of a war are able to exercise their right to education.
During its field invasion of most of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army converted a number of schools into military bases and detention facilities. One such facility was the Salah al-Din Preparatory School in Gaza City, which in February was used as a detention and interrogation centre for hundreds of locals.
Israeli journalist Amir Bohbut released a video clip on 30 April in which he documents an Israeli military base located inside a Gaza Strip school, which Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reiterates is a war crime. In the video, he states, “We are in a forward operations base belonging to the 162nd Division in the heart of the Gaza Strip. The video proceeds to display several large containers set up in the centre of the schoolyard, which he says are being used as offices and bedrooms. Bohbut adds: “Raids, ambushes, and other operations will start from here.”
