ISRAELI occupation forces committed four massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 52 Palestinians and the injury of 128 others, according to medical reports yesterday.
Local health authorities confirmed that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 7th, 2023, has risen to 42,227 reported fatalities, with an additional 98,464 individuals sustaining injuries. The majority of the victims are women and children.
According to the same sources, emergency services are still unable to reach many casualties and dead bodies trapped under the rubble or scattered on roads across the war-torn enclave, as Israeli occupation forces continue to obstruct the movement of ambulance and civil defence crews.
A Palestinian citizen was injured by live fire from Israeli occupation forces on Sunday north of the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.
Raed Yassin, the director of emergency medical services at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, reported that a 24-year-old man from Tulkarm sustained gunshot wounds to his legs as a result of the shooting by Israeli soldiers, which resulted in fractures.
The injured individual was promptly transported to Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm for medical treatment.
The Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) organised a vigil on Sunday: ‘In solidarity with our colleague, journalist Rasha Herzallah, who is currently imprisoned in Israeli jails.’
The event took place outside the agency’s headquarters in the city of Al-Bireh, in the central West Bank, and was attended by prominent officials and a large crowd of journalists and activists including Ahmad Assaf, General Supervisor of the Official Media.
Minister Assaf stated that Herzallah’s detention is part of an ongoing Israeli campaign against journalists, which has intensified over the past year. He emphasised that the Israeli government aims to suppress and intimidate the press to try to maintain a façade of democracy while the true situation reveals widespread human rights violations.
He highlighted the significant sacrifices made by Palestinian journalists, noting that more than 168 have been killed since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, alongside hundreds injured and detained.
Assaf drew comparisons to past global conflicts, illustrating the unprecedented level of targeting journalists by the Israeli government.
The rally also addressed the broader targeting of official media, referencing attacks on media facilities in Ramallah and Gaza, and the rising number of violations by the Israeli occupation against journalists, which have exceeded 1,940 in the past year.
Wassel Abu Yusuf called for accountability for those responsible for the killings of journalists and emphasised the need for international legal action against Israeli perpetrators.
Qaddoura Fares stressed the importance of the journalistic role in documenting the realities of the Palestinian struggle, while urging a collective effort to maintain the flow of information despite the risks involved.
Herzallah was arrested on June 2, 2024, after being summoned by Israeli intelligence and is currently held in Damon prison. Her case represents one among many, with approximately 94 journalists detained since the onset of the current Israeli onslaught on Gaza.
Meanwhile, as Israeli attacks intensify in Lebanon, healthcare facilities are being forced to close. This is leading to devastating consequences for people and their access to healthcare, says Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
MSF said: ‘Due to the intense Israeli airstrikes, we were forced to suspend some activities in highly affected areas.’
The previous week, ‘MSF was forced to completely close its clinic in the Palestinian camp of Burj el Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Beirut. We also had to temporarily stop our activities in Baalbek-Hermel, north east Lebanon. These areas have both been heavily affected by the strikes.’
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