Rights group accuses Israel of blackmailing Gaza families with choice between collaboration or mass murder

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor accused Israel on Sunday of pursuing a “dangerous blackmail policy” against Palestinian families in the Gaza Strip, forcing them to choose between collaborating with occupation forces or facing mass killing, starvation, and displacement—an escalation the group says forms part of the genocide in Gaza.

In a statement, the rights group said its field team has documented a shift from targeting individuals to exerting collective pressure on entire families, threatening them with death or expulsion if they refuse to join local militias loyal to Israel. It compared these efforts to the so-called “Abu Shabab Gang” formed in Rafah.

The group cited the Bakr family massacre in Gaza’s Shati refugee camp—where nine members, including women and children, were killed—as an example. According to the Monitor, the killings followed the family’s rejection of an Israeli offer to remain in their home in exchange for forming a militia.

It added that the al-Deiri and Daghmash families received similar offers. After their refusal, Israeli forces intensified strikes on Gaza City’s al-Sabra neighbourhood, killing more than 60 civilians.

The Monitor said such actions amount to a “full-fledged war crime” under the Rome Statute, which prohibits coercing civilians into collaborating with a hostile military force.