9 July 2024 Gaza attacks

The 9 July 2024 Gaza attacks refer to a series of coordinated attacks by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah, resulting in the deaths of at least 50 Palestinians and injury of at least 80 more as reported by the Gaza Health Ministry.

Background
In July 2024, Israel Defense Forces furthered incursions into and expanded intense confrontations in several districts in Gaza City following Israeli intelligence reports indicating a build up of Hamas and Islamic Jihad forces in the southern districts of Tal al-Hawa, Sabra, and Shujayea. Residents of Gaza City were instructed using leaflets to relocate to the central Gaza district of Deir el-Balah for safety, a location that the United Nations reported was heavily overcrowded due to Palestinians from several other regions taking refuge there. Many residents reporting “explosions and numerous gun battles” and helicopter strikes in southwestern Gaza City.

Attacks
At least 50 Palestinians were killed in attacks across Gaza City and Deir el-Balah. This included three deaths in a bombing on Lababida street and six deaths from a strike on a house located on al-Jalaa Street, both in northern Gaza City. One infant was rescued alive from the rubble at al-Jalaa Street. At least one person was killed and several wounded in an Israeli artillery shelling in the Sabra district in southern Gaza City.

A multi-story building in Nuseirat refugee camp housing the Freih family was attacked by an Israeli airstrike in the morning of 9 July, causing seventeen deaths which included fourteen children and requiring neighbors to assist first responders in search for and recover survivors and victims. A UNRWA-ran school in Nuseirat was also struck, injuring several Palestinians. Another attack in Bureij Refugee Camp struck a group of civilians and killed at least nine Palestinians, including at least five children. Eyewitnesses stated that most of the victims were children who were playing in a street near the Abu Rasas roundabout.

Aftermath
The Al-Ahli Arab Hospital received over 80 injured Palestinians and sixteen bodies, many who required immediate surgery and suffered from gunshot injuries to the head, requiring intensive care. Treatment for the injured was impeded by severe fuel and medical supply shortages at the hospital, as well as the sudden surge of patients requiring "every corner" of the hospital to be filled with patients. Half of the deceased received by the hospital were women and children.

Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal stated that first responders were dispatched to several houses shelled in Jaffa in Gaza City, where first responders reported being unable to retrieve several casualties and "scores of bodies" lying on the ground.

A report by the IDF states that they had “eliminated dozens of terrorists and located numerous weapons” in Gaza City, and intended continue ground and tunnel raids in Shuja'iyya neighborhood. However, Israel was forced to retreat on 12 July from areas of Gaza city which it had occupied, though some snipers continued to control high ground.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported not being able to reach the locations of several emergency calls in Gaza City due to intensive conflict and bombardment.

Reactions
Middle East political analyst Mouin Rabbani postulated that the increased frequency and intensity of attacks on Gaza City and central Gaza were conducted by the IDF as an implicit way to decrease the chances of a fully-formed ceasefire deal with Hamas from manifesting, as well as a means to take out their anger of not being able to target Hamas and other milita leaders on civilians. He emphasized that any attempts by the United States to organize a ceasefire agreement were persistently undermined by their supplying and enabling of Israeli attacks on civilian populations.

Journalist and American University of Beirut fellow Rami Khouri called Israel's increased attacks on civilian locations a "failed strategy" employed since the start of the war to isolate civilians and make efforts to resist seem futile as a means to push for surrender.