18.10.2026 08:30
It has emerged that the Israeli army is employing a horrifying method of execution against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Israeli officers calling Palestinians by phone threaten them, saying, "Either go up to the roof or you will die with your family." It has been learned that civilians who went up to the roof to save their families were killed in drone attacks.
A new method used by the Israeli army in its attacks on the Gaza Strip against Palestinian civilians has caused horror. According to Gaza-based sources, Israeli officers threatened Palestinians they called by phone with killing their families and forced them to go up to the roofs of their homes. A Palestinian named Ethem Maruf, who went up to the roof to save his family's life, was killed in an attack carried out by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
"EITHER GO UP TO THE ROOF OR YOU WILL DIE WITH YOUR FAMILY"
According to information reported by local Gaza sources, an officer said to be serving in the Israeli army called the Palestinian Ethem Maruf by phone and presented him with two options.
The officer asked Maruf to go up alone to the roof of the house belonging to the Shalha family. If he did not accept this request, he said the house he was in would be bombed together with his family.
Maruf, wanting to save his family's life, went up to the roof of the house after the threat. The Palestinian civilian was killed shortly afterward in a UAV attack.
HE SAID GOODBYE TO HIS FAMILY ONE BY ONE AND WENT UP TO THE ROOF
In another incident reported by Palestinian journalist Abu Firas, a similar threat was experienced. According to the shared phone call recordings, a person who said he belonged to the Israeli army told the Palestinian civilian he called, 'This is the Israeli Defense Forces. You have two options: either go up to the roof or get out of the house.'
When the Palestinian civilian tried to find out why he was being targeted, the person on the phone continued his threat with the words, 'Do not talk too much. Go up to the roof, or we will bomb the house while your family is inside.' The Palestinian, who said goodbye to his family one by one, accepted what was asked of him by saying, 'Okay, I will go up to the roof. Hasbunallahu wa ni'mal wakeel.' The person in question was killed in the attack carried out after he went up to the roof.
THE EXECUTION METHOD WAS ALSO APPLIED TO OTHER CIVILIANS
Gaza sources reported that similar incidents had occurred before, in which Palestinian civilians were forced to go up to the roofs of their homes under the threat of their families being killed.
While it was claimed that unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to the Israeli army targeted people who went up to the roof in this way, it was argued that the practice was used in more than one incident.
However, the authenticity of the phone calls, by whom the threats were made, and whether the incidents were carried out with the same method have not yet been independently verified.
NEW DETAILS ABOUT THE ATTACK IN JABALIA
On October 16, local news also reported that a Palestinian was killed in a UAV attack on the roof of a house belonging to the Shalha family in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in northern Gaza.
However, some reports give the name of the person killed as Ethem Maruf, while others report it as Adhem Halil Maruf. The claim that the incident was carried out through a phone threat still awaits separate verification.
The forcing of civilians to become targets under threat of death against their families could, if verified, raise serious allegations of violations under international humanitarian law.