A/HRC/28/78 Abu Jarad, Al-Hallaq, Ammar, Abu Jame’ Siyam, Al-Qassas, Abu Eeta, Al-Najjar, AlHelu, Abu Jaber, Abu Khousa, Abu Zaid, Duhair, Al-Hashash, Abu ‘Amer, Breeker, Mu’ammar, Balata, Al-Khalili, Al-Bayoumi, Al-Farra, Abu Suleiman, Abu Madi, Al Ghoul, Al-Majdalawi, Abu Nijm-Al Masri, Al-Bakri, Uwaida, Wahdan, Al-Dalu, Al-Louh, Kellab, Abu Dahrouj, Mheesin, Joudeh and Tanboura. Overall, at least 999 family members were reportedly killed inside their houses, including 329 children. A further 233 people were killed in the vicinity of their houses, in some cases while attempting to flee. 14 21. The most recent round of conflict was in fact far deadlier for children than the previous hostilities in 2008 and 2009 and in 2012. On average, 10 children died every day over a period of 50 days – an appalling statistic by any measure, which cannot be dismissed as collateral damage. According to UNRWA, the conflict over the summer resulted in up to 1,500 new orphans, including at least 560 UNRWA students, who were in need of sustained child protection and welfare support. Palestinian human rights organizations described the reported high civilian toll as “a direct consequence of Israel’s large scale, deliberate and systematic military attacks against family homes”. All the information received to date by the Special Rapporteur supports the validity of this claim. 22. Israel has justified its use of force against civilian infrastructure by noting that Palestinian armed groups had fired rockets indiscriminately from the above-mentioned facilities.15 However, the testimonies heard by the Special Rapporteur from human rights defenders and victims from Gaza, collaborated by the sheer scale of destruction that can be seen in satellite imagery made available by the United Nations, raises serious questions as to whether the Israel Defense Forces adhered to principles of proportionality and distinction.16 It is also relevant to recall that the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention affirmed in its declaration of 17 December 2014 that “no violation of international humanitarian law by any party to a conflict can relieve the other party from its own obligations under international humanitarian law”. 23. Long after the ceasefire, unexploded remnants of war continue to pose a threat, particularly to children in Gaza. It is estimated that 7,000 unexploded ordinances are still littered across the Gaza Strip under the rubble and debris of flattened neighbourhoods. At the end of October 2014, the United Nations Mine Action Service reported at least seven civilian fatalities as a result of unexploded remnants of war, and 14 others injured.17 In the latest such incident, on 4 December 2014, four Palestinian women, including three children, were reportedly injured (two of them with serious shrapnel wounds) at the home of the Abu Mer’ie family when one family member picked up an oddly shaped piece of metal. The family had just returned to their house in the al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City a few days earlier in order to carry out repairs.18 14 15 16 17 18 8 Information provided by Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights. See also Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights and Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, “Complaint concerning destruction and damage to family houses in the Gaza Strip with associated loss of life and injury to Palestinian residents, during Israel's military operation between 7 July 2014 and 26 August 2014”. Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneva, “What you can’t see on the UN maps of Gaza”, and “Hamas’ exploitation of civilian facilities”, 26 August 2014. See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Assessment of physical damages in Gaza using satellite images (Before and after). Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Humanitarian Bulletin, Monthly Report, September 2014. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (04-10 December 2014), 11 December 2014.