YESTERDAY Israeli forces and colonists intensified their assaults across the occupied Palestinian territories, killing numerous civilians including entire families.
In the early hours of Friday morning, an Israeli airstrike targeted the Al-Azza neighbourhood in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, killing a Palestinian man, his wife, and their two daughters.
Several others were injured in the attack. Additional strikes in Gaza City and Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, claimed six lives and caused further injuries.
Thousands are believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings, unreachable by emergency teams due to ongoing Israeli strikes.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli violence escalated.
In Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, Israeli forces demolished residential buildings. Near Jericho, colonists erected a new outpost by pitching a tent close to the Arab al-Malihat Bedouin community along the Al-Ma’arajat Road.
There are now five such outposts along this route, underscoring an intensified push to expand colonial control in the border regions between Ramallah and Jericho.
In the early hours of Friday, Israeli colonists launched a ‘heinous crime’ against the Bir al-Walidain Mosque in Marda village, north of Salfit, setting it on fire and scrawling racist, vengeful slogans threatening Arabs and Muslims.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli occupation forces detained a Palestinian man, his wife, and their son from their home in the village of Roujeib, east of Nablus. Soldiers ransacked the property, causing extensive damage. Another home in Kafr Qalil, south of Nablus, was raided and vandalised.
Further south, confrontations erupted in Husan, west of Bethlehem, after Israeli troops stormed the village. Youths faced live ammunition, sound bombs, and tear gas, with Israeli soldiers pursuing them through narrow streets.
Since October 2023, the Israeli genocide has resulted in at least 45,129 Palestinian fatalities and over 107,338 injuries.
Poverty stricken Israel
ISRAEL has been ranked second to last in poverty among OECD nations, with nearly two million people, including 872,400 children, living below the poverty line in 2023.
This accounts for 20.7 per cent of the population, with Arab and ultra-Orthodox communities hit hardest—half of their children live in poverty.
Modi’in Illit and al-Quds were the worst-affected areas, with poverty rates of 48.3 per cent and 38.3 per cent, respectively.
Rising living costs have forced many to cut essentials, with some forgoing medical care or skipping meals.
Israel’s war on Gaza has further strained the economy, slashing growth from 6.5 per cent in 2022 to 2 per cent in 2023.
Eli Cohen of Pitchon Lev warned of a looming collapse of the middle class, citing a 23 per cent rise in requests for aid this year.
The Bank of Israel estimates the war’s total cost at $67 billion by 2025.
