July 2024 al-Shati Refugee Camp Attack

On 13 July 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an attack on a makeshift mosque located in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, at least 22 worshippers were killed while praying inside the mosque during the midday prayer, with several additional victims left in critical condition. Witnesses said camp residents had deliberately limited their gatherings at the site to noon prayers only, avoiding evening Maghrib and Isha prayers, out of fear of being targeted.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported recovering six bodies and three critically injured civilians in the immediate aftermath. At least ten deceased and twenty injured individuals were subsequently transported to the nearby al-Ahli Arab Hospital for treatment.

Accounts of the attack diverged sharply along political lines. Palestinian sources described those killed as civilians. Israel stated that it had killed "20 Hamas terrorists" in the strike. A local Palestinian resident was quoted questioning the justification for striking an entire mosque because a single Hamas member might have been present among worshippers.

Hamas condemned the strike as "escalating Zionist terrorism and crimes against humanity." The Iraqi government also issued a condemnation, linking the al-Shati attack to a separate strike on the al-Mawasi camp that occurred the same day. Iraqi officials characterized the actions, along with those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, as efforts to "undermine all concepts of international law" while disregarding humanitarian concerns, warning that such actions risked further destabilizing the Middle East and expanding the conflict beyond the region. Iraq renewed calls for the international community to hold Israel accountable for what it termed "blatant aggression," and urged greater international support for Palestinian human rights.

The al-Shati camp, established in 1948 to house Palestinians displaced during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, was among the most densely populated areas in the world, housing over 90,000 refugees in an area of just 0.52 square kilometers as of 2023. The camp had previously been struck by Israeli forces multiple times during the Gaza war, including strikes on 9 and 12 October 2023, which destroyed four mosques and killed at least 15 civilians, and a 22 June 2024 airstrike that killed 24 people.