A Palestinian judge who was investigating alleged war crimes by Israel was among 16 civilians killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Gaza City on Monday, according to local sources.
Judge Mohamad Fahimi, 45, was a member of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, a Palestinian body that monitors human rights violations in the occupied territories. He was also a legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Justice and a former prosecutor at the Gaza Military Court.
Fahimi was reportedly working on a document that detailed Israeli war crimes committed during the recent escalation of violence in Gaza, which began on October 6 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 Israelis.
According to witnesses, Fahimi’s four-story house in the al-Shuja’iya neighborhood was hit by a guided missile around 10 p.m. local time, without any prior warning. The blast destroyed the building and damaged several nearby houses, killing Fahimi, his wife, his four children, his parents, his brother, and seven other relatives.
IThe airstrike on Fahimi’s house was one of dozens of Israeli attacks that targeted civilian buildings in Gaza on Monday, killing at least 60 Palestinians, including 18 children and 10 women, according to health officials. The death toll in Gaza since October 6 has risen to over 500, including more than 100 women and children.