The systematic targeting of Gaza's civil police and internal security forces by Israeli occupation forces constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and undermines the conditions essential for civilian life.

The deliberate destruction of law enforcement institutions accelerates institutional collapse, empowers criminal gangs, and deepens the humanitarian and human rights crisis across the territory.

On 26 July 2026, an Israeli airstrike killed Colonel Wael Musa al-Ladawi, director of Gaza's Internal Security apparatus, and Major Ramiz Tawfiq Abu Zureiq in Deir al-Balah, reducing their vehicle to rubble in the central Gaza Strip. One day earlier, Brigadier Abdel Nasser Mohammed al-Maqadma, director of North Gaza Governorate police, was killed in an airstrike on Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood while performing his duties, according to the Gaza Interior Ministry.

These killings form part of an Israeli policy pursued since October 2023 to dismantle Gaza's security and justice institutions. Israeli forces have killed at least ten police officers and personnel in recent days alone. On 14 July, an airstrike on Jabalia refugee camp's police station killed seven officers, including station director Colonel Mohammed Salem and his deputy, Lieutenant Colonel Yamen Mohammed Obeid, as well as five civilians.

Since the October ceasefire took effect, 55 police commanders, officers, and personnel have reportedly been killed. Since the beginning of the war, more than 2,700 police and Interior Ministry personnel have lost their lives. These deaths form part of the broader Palestinian casualty toll, which the Gaza Health Ministry places at 73,326 verified fatalities since October 2023.

The scale, systematic nature, and severe civilian consequences of these attacks meet the threshold of war crimes and crimes against humanity and constitute constituent acts of genocide under the Rome Statute and the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The campaign against official law enforcement has coincided with documented Israeli support for local armed groups operating inside Gaza, indicating a pattern of weakening public institutions while enabling irregular armed actors. This has further destabilized Gaza's security environment and fragmented its social fabric.

The "Abu Shabab" gang reportedly operates under Israeli military protection. Its activities include looting humanitarian supplies, extorting aid convoys, destroying food assistance, attacking hospitals, burning universities, demolishing schools, ransacking civilian homes, and abducting Palestinians for transfer to Israeli forces. Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant acknowledged in March 2024 that Israel had recruited and armed Gaza-based armed groups.

The dismantling of civilian policing has left Gaza's population increasingly vulnerable to looting, extortion, kidnapping, retaliatory violence, and domestic abuse amid mass displacement, the collapse of essential services, and famine conditions. The resulting security vacuum also obstructs humanitarian operations and leaves civilians without effective protection or legal recourse.

Under international humanitarian law, civilians—including political, administrative, and police officials—are protected from direct attack unless, and only for such time as, they directly participate in hostilities. The systematic targeting of police stations, patrols, and personnel without evidence of direct participation in hostilities violates the principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity reflected in the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I. The repeated use of indiscriminate and disproportionate force against civilian areas and entire families further erodes the distinction between civilians and combatants in violation of fundamental rules of international humanitarian law.

By dismantling civilian law enforcement while supporting irregular armed groups, Israeli authorities have created conditions in which abuses proliferate, humanitarian access is obstructed, and Gaza's civilian institutions continue to deteriorate. This pattern contributes to the forcible displacement of the Palestinian population and advances conduct consistent with an alleged genocidal policy.

Institutional Position

The systematic targeting of Gaza's civil police and internal security forces, together with documented Israeli support for irregular armed groups operating under military protection, constitutes a grave violation of the right to life and of the protections afforded to civilians under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The deliberate dismantling of civilian law enforcement, combined with the empowerment of armed militias and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance, has undermined public order, weakened civilian protection, and entrenched impunity. States must act without delay to protect civilians, uphold their obligations under international law, ensure accountability for serious violations, and restore the legal safeguards essential to the rule of law and civilian security.

Demands Aligned with International Human Rights Principles

Women Journalists Without Chains
Geneva, Switzerland — 26 July 2026