GAZA, (PIC)
The assassination of the director of public relations at the Egyptian Committee in the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Fawaz al-Wahidi, sparked a wide wave of human rights and legal condemnations, after he was targeted in an Israeli raid while moving around Gaza City.
While human rights defenders considered that the crime comes within a systematic policy targeting civilians and humanitarian workers, others saw that the timing of the assassination, coinciding with the preparation to equip display arenas for the Egypt and Argentina match in the World Cup, carries connotations that go beyond individual targeting to hitting any aspect of life and joy in the besieged Strip.
Targeting during a humanitarian mission
Mohammad Fawaz al-Wahidi, known as Abu Sohaib, was martyred on Tuesday evening, following an Israeli bombardment that targeted his civilian vehicle in the al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, while he was moving to accomplish tasks related to his work in the Egyptian Committee.
Al-Wahidi held the position of director of public relations at the Egyptian Committee in the Gaza Strip, and emerged during the years of his work in coordinating humanitarian and relief efforts, in addition to his contribution to organizing community activities aimed at alleviating the suffering of the population.
The Egyptian Committee in Gaza mourned its employee, stressing that he dedicated his efforts to serve the people of the Strip in the most difficult circumstances, while hundreds escorted his body in a massive funeral procession that reflected the status he enjoyed among citizens.
Targeting joy is part of the crime
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights considered that the assassination of al-Wahidi cannot be separated from a broader policy pursued by the Israeli occupation forces against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The Center said, in a statement, that targeting the director of public relations at the Egyptian Committee, coinciding with preparations to set up public arenas to watch the Egypt and Argentina match, reflects a tendency to target not only civilians, but also initiatives that give the population a psychological outlet.
It added that the occupation has begun targeting spaces of life and collective joy, within the framework of a policy aimed at undermining civil life, and deepening the state of fear and deprivation among the population.
The Center stressed that the targeting of civilians continues through airstrikes and direct fire on homes, tents of displaced people, and public places, in addition to targeting relief workers and police elements, which reflects, according to the statement, a systematic pattern of expanding the circle of killing and destruction. Deliberate assassination
For his part, the professor of international law, Mohammad Mahmoud Mehran, said that the assassination of al-Wahidi cannot be considered an accidental incident, but rather represents an assassination operation carrying clear indications of premeditation.
He explained that the timing of executing the raid at 6 pm, coinciding with the equipping of display arenas for the Egypt and Argentina match, reflects, according to his assessment, an intentional message aimed at depriving the population of Gaza of any space for joy.
He added that targeting a person working on a humanitarian mission represents a violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law, noting that Article 71 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions stipulates the protection of workers in humanitarian missions, while Article 8 of the Rome Statute criminalizes targeting them when they are not legitimate military targets.
Mehran pointed out that the drone’s pursuit of al-Wahidi after he survived the first strike, according to local testimonies, may indicate the presence of direct criminal intent, considering that targeting relief workers has become part of a repeated policy.
He also opined that targeting one of the workers in the Egyptian Committee carries dimensions that go beyond the Palestinian arena, given the Committee’s connection to the Egyptian efforts aimed at alleviating the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. #شاهد | تشييع جثمان مدير العلاقات العامة في اللجنة المصرية محمد فواز الوحيدي، الذي ارتقى في قصف إسرائيلي استهدف مركبة بحي الصبرة بمدينة غزة، أمس. pic.twitter.com/lb986te7MG — المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) July 8, 2026 A career in national and humanitarian work
Mohammad Fawaz al-Wahidi occupied several organizational and community positions, and the Tarabin tribe in Egypt and Palestine described his martyrdom as “a loss for the homeland,” confirming that he spent years in serving the people of his nation and working to alleviate their suffering.
Calls for international accountability
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights renewed its call to the international community to move urgently to stop the targeting of civilians and humanitarian workers, provide international protection for the population of the Gaza Strip, hold those responsible for violations accountable before the international judiciary, and end the state of impunity which it said contributed to the continuation and escalation of crimes.
The assassination of al-Wahidi comes in light of the continuation of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, which have resulted, according to Palestinian data, in the fall of large numbers of civilian victims, in addition to extensive destruction of infrastructure and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis in various parts of the Strip.