GAZA: The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza has warned of a “health catastrophe” in the besieged enclave and said Israeli forces are “deliberately” maintaining the collapse of hospitals across the enclave. “We warn of a health catastrophe as a result of hospitals turning into shelter centres, housing tens of thousands of displaced people in unsanitary conditions that have caused the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases,” the ministry said in a statement, Al Jazeera reports.
The Palestinian health ministry has said that at least 7,028 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes since Oct 7, AFP reports. Some 2,913 children and 1,709 women are among the dead — marking the highest number of war fatalities in Gaza since 2005.
It called on “all parties” to adopt immediate measures to salvage what is left of the healthcare system, and urged neighbouring Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing for medical aid and fuel. Palestinian writer Mariam Barghouti has described the situation in Gaza as “madness”.
“There are children with worms growing out of their wounds because nothing is operational. All of it bombed and depleted of life. No water. No electricity. No fuel,” she said in a post on X. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has warned that if Israel’s retaliation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip doesn’t end then the United States will “not be spared from this fire.” “I say frankly to the American statesmen, who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome (an) expansion of the war in the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire,” he told the United Nations General Assembly.
The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees has said 39 of its workers have been killed in Israeli bombardment on Gaza while 42 installations have been damaged. In a report, UNRWA said 629,000 displaced persons were living in 150 installations currently. It further said that fuel was immediately needed to continue life-saving operations in the Palestinian enclave.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said 62 aid trucks have entered Gaza in recent days but at the same time highlighted that “this is just a drop in the ocean”.
The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees has said 39 of its workers have been killed in Israeli bombardment on Gaza while 42 installations have been damaged.
In a report, UNRWA said 629,000 displaced persons were living in 150 installations currently. It further said that fuel was immediately needed to continue life-saving operations in the Palestinian enclave. Unicef has warned that the death toll in Gaza will increase “exponentially” if hospitals in the Palestinian enclave are not provided electricity and if children continue to drink unsafe water.
Hamas has said that “almost 50” Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 offensive have been killed in Israeli bombing raids on the Palestinian enclave, AFP reports. “(Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades estimates that the number of Zionist prisoners who were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of Zionist strikes and massacres has reached almost 50,” the group said in a statement issued on its Telegram channel.
The UN agency providing aid to Palestinian civilians in besieged Gaza warned it may have to shut down operations shortly if no fuel reaches the enclave, amid an increasingly desperate need for shelter, water, food and medical services. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it urgently needed fuel to maintain life-saving humanitarian operations in Gaza that has been under Israeli bombardment for almost three weeks.
The foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Morocco have condemned targeting of civilians and violations of international law in Gaza which has been under Israeli bombardment, according to Reuters. Their joint statement mentioned that the right to self-defence does not justify breaking law and neglecting Palestinians’ rights. The Arab foreign ministers also condemned forced displacement and collective punishment in Gaza, it added.
Israel is waging a “war of revenge” on Gaza aimed at its total destruction, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said, as Israeli troops bombard the Palestinian enclave in response to the Oct 7 attack by Hamas, according to Reuters. “So many wars have taken place (in Gaza), this is different. This time it’s a war of revenge,” al-Maliki told reporters in The Hague. “This war has no real objective, rather than the total destruction of every livable place in Gaza. — Aljazeera
