Because the Khoswan household slept, the Israeli army dropped three GBU-39 bombs into their sixth-floor condo. One of many bombs exploded simply exterior the dad and mom’ bed room, leaving the condo wanting as if a twister had swept by means of, killing three relations.

However they weren’t the acknowledged goal of the assault earlier this month.

The Israeli army had dropped the bombs into their residence to assassinate a commander of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad who lived within the condo beneath.

Jamal Khoswan, a dentist, Mirvat Khoswan, a pharmacist, and their son, a 19-year-old dental pupil, had been killed within the strike in addition to the Islamic Jihad commander who lived downstairs, Tareq Izzeldeen, and two of his kids, a lady, 11, and a boy, 9.

“Commanders have been focused earlier than,” Menna Khoswan, 16, mentioned this month at a memorial service for her father on the hospital the place he served as chairman of the board. “However to focus on the commander and people round him, actually that is one thing we didn’t anticipate.”

Israel says that it conducts “precision strikes” aimed toward taking out armed teams’ commanders or operation websites, and that it doesn’t goal civilians. However the airstrikes are sometimes carried out in closely populated areas, and lots of Palestinians in Gaza say they quantity to a collective punishment aimed toward making them fearful about who their neighbors could be.

Israel additionally destroys total residential buildings or towers if it believes an armed group has an workplace or condo there, though it often points an evacuation warning beforehand.

Menna’s dad and mom and brother had been amongst no less than 12 civilians killed by Israeli strikes throughout 5 days of preventing between Israel and Islamic Jihad this month, based on the Palestinian Middle for Human Rights. Israel says that 9 civilians had been killed within the strikes.

Six senior leaders of the armed group that Israel mentioned had been answerable for rocket assaults on Israel had been killed earlier than a cease-fire was reached on Could 13. The Israeli army mentioned that Islamic Jihad had launched almost 1,500 rockets indiscriminately towards Israel over the course of a number of days. Two individuals had been killed in Israel, together with an Israeli lady and a Palestinian employee from Gaza.

Members of the Khoswan household say they knew that an Islamic Jihad commander lived within the condo beneath them and nervous that he could possibly be the goal of an Israeli strike. Israel has designated Islamic Jihad as a terrorist group — as have nations together with the USA and Japan — and has repeatedly focused its leaders and fighters.

But the Khoswans by no means thought their condo can be hit whereas they had been inside, Menna mentioned, describing the shock of being woke up by the explosions ripping by means of her residence.

The Israeli army mentioned it had twice postponed the assassinations of the three Islamic Jihad commanders to make sure appropriate operational circumstances and reduce civilian casualties. However the army didn’t reply to questions on why it had focused the three Islamic Jihad commanders on Could 9 whereas they had been at residence or why it had launched the three bombs focusing on the Islamic Jihad commander by means of the Khoswan residence.

The Israeli army “didn’t select to kill the dentist,” mentioned Nir Dinar, an Israeli military spokesman, declining to remark additional.

The Israeli army launched movies of the strikes it carried out, together with one displaying a person it accused of getting fired rockets at Israel being struck in the course of a highway on a bicycle. One other confirmed a person strolling within the courtyard of a fancy of buildings for a number of seconds earlier than coming into a constructing. As soon as he went inside, the constructing was blown up.

The army mentioned the movies confirmed the way it had waited for targets to be alone earlier than placing.

In the course of the 5 days of preventing this month, Israeli strikes destroyed 103 houses, and greater than 2,800 others had been broken, based on Gaza’s public works division.

Amnesty Worldwide has beforehand mentioned that Israel’s sample of assaults on residential houses in Gaza displayed a disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians and will quantity to conflict crimes or crimes in opposition to humanity.

Within the 11-day 2021 conflict between Hamas and Israel, Israel struck 4 tower buildings, destroying three of them; one had housed among the world’s main information media organizations, together with The Related Press and Al Jazeera.

The Israeli army mentioned that it had destroyed the tower as a result of the constructing additionally contained army property belonging to Hamas, the political and armed group which controls and governs Gaza. The A.P. reported that on the time that the tower’s proprietor had been “instructed he had an hour to ensure everybody has left the constructing.”

Fearing that Israel would destroy total buildings as a result of they contained places of work or houses belonging to members of armed teams, residents of some buildings posted indicators of their lobbies warning in opposition to renting to departments linked to the Hamas-led authorities.

Israel has lengthy accused Palestinian armed teams in Gaza of hiding amongst civilians and utilizing them as human shields. As a result of the armed teams are homegrown, they stay facet by facet among the many individuals and their command facilities are unfold all through Gaza.

Leaders and members of the teams say that Israel’s airstrikes are aimed toward hurting the civilian inhabitants to undermine public help for them. The teams have extensive help amongst Palestinians for his or her resistance to the Israeli occupation.

For the reason that 2021 conflict, Hamas says it has begun transferring its places of work away from necessary infrastructure comparable to hospitals and faculties.

Khaled al-Batsh, an Islamic Jihad chief in Gaza, mentioned his group’s members lived in their very own communities within the tiny enclave that’s residence to greater than 2.3 million individuals.

“The place ought to we go? Ought to we flee Palestine? Can we go arrange a army base in Colorado?” he mentioned. “They aim the civilians to allow them to pit individuals in opposition to us.”

South of Gaza Metropolis, Ghada Abu Ebeid, 50, this month was dwelling with a relative close to the stays of her household’s two-story home, which was destroyed by an Israeli bomb within the current preventing that additionally sheared off the fronts of close by buildings.

An hour earlier than the strike, the Israeli army warned residents as much as 100 meters away to evacuate their houses, based on the Abu Ebeid household and neighbors.

When requested in regards to the assault, the army referred to an announcement saying that it had focused Islamic Jihad command-and-control facilities from which they function and direct rockets towards Israel.

Ms. Ebeid wouldn’t say why she believed Israel had demolished their residence. Neighbors mentioned that certainly one of her sons was a member of Islamic Jihad.

Many Gaza residents acknowledge that they do fear about who would possibly transfer in subsequent door, fearing that their neighbors may develop into targets. However they put the blame squarely on Israel.

“What sort of precision is that this if you kill civilians?” mentioned Asmahan Adas, referring to a strike on the house of her next-door neighbor, Khalil al-Bahtini, one other Islamic Jihad commander, that additionally killed her two teenage daughters. “When Israel desires to kill somebody, they will discover many alternative methods to kill, however they need others to die together with their goal.”

Ms. Adas mentioned that when she knew Mr. Bahtini was at residence, she would transfer her two daughters to the far facet of their residence, fearing that Israeli bombs may destroy the rooms closest to him.

On the night time of Could 9, she was unaware that Mr. Bahtini had returned residence. Earlier than she went to mattress, Ms. Adas mentioned good night time to her two daughters, Iman, 17, and Dania, 19, who had been sitting on their beds, watching cellphone movies and laughing, she mentioned.

Minutes later, shortly after 2 a.m., three GBU-39 bombs pierced the roof of Mr. Bahtini’s second-floor residence, killing him, his spouse and 5-year-old daughter. The blast additionally ripped by means of the bed room of Ms. Adas’ teenager daughters, burying them in rubble.

Every week later, Ms. Adas wept as she obtained mourners at her dad and mom’ home. Dania was to be married on July 21. Now, her fiancé visits her grave day by day to speak to her.

“I had goals of taking my daughter out of our residence in her wedding ceremony gown, not in a burial shroud,” Ms. Adas mentioned. “They took every part from me in a second, simply so they may kill one particular person.”

Ameera Harouda contributed reporting.