A TOTAL OF 101 Palestinians were killed between 12am and 6.40pm across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Medical sources reported that 86 people were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, the majority of them in Gaza City, while nine were killed in the central Gaza Strip, and six in the south.
In the latest attacks, five Palestinians were killed when Israeli occupation forces targeted a vehicle carrying displaced persons near Al-Katiba Square, west of Gaza City.
Al-Rantisi Hospital for children in Gaza City came under attack from the Israeli Air Force, the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry reported on its Telegram channel.
According to the ministry, the incident occurred late on Tuesday evening as the upper floors of the hospital building were attacked three times within minutes.
Al-Rantisi Hospital specialises in the treatment of children, including babies, with cancer, kidney diseases, as well as disorders impacting the respiratory and digestive organs. Almost half of all patients were forced to leave the clinic, cutting the therapy short, because of the attack, the ministry said.
The death toll from the occupation’s aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has risen to 64,964 documented fatalities, in addition to 165,312 injuries.
Three deaths due to famine and malnutrition were recorded on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths due to malnutrition to 425, including 145 children.
On Tuesday, September 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the start of an intensive offensive operation by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza.
The operation’s stated goal is to dismantle the Palestinian movement Hamas. Prior to this, the Israeli army repeatedly warned local residents to leave the combat zone, including by dropping leaflets over the city.
According to Qatar’s Al Jazeera, over 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and surrounding areas during Tuesday night.
In the occupied West Bank Israeli occupation forces brutally assaulted Nader Abu Bakr, Secretary of the Fatah Movement in the village of Marda, north of Salfit, during a raid on his home at dawn on Wednesday, according to his family.
They said that Israeli troops raided his house and severely beat Abu Bakr, necessitating his transfer to Salfit Governmental Hospital for medical treatment.
The soldiers reportedly destroyed and vandalised the contents of the house.
In the meantime, family members were detained in one room, while Abu Bakar was subjected for several hours to field investigation.
The troops further seized an amount of money estimated at 300 shekels and a gold bracelet.
In a related context, Israeli forces detained former prisoner Majdi Rateb al-Dik and his son Qusay, 16, after raiding and searching their home and ransacking its contents in the town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said that Israeli occupation forces have detained approximately 120 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the week, including children and women, in addition to hostages and former detainees.
The PPS added in a statement issued on Wednesday that the occupation continues to escalate arrest operations in the West Bank governorates, concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Jenin, Qalqilya, and Nablus.
At least 30 Palestinians were detained between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning alone.
The PPS that stressed that the escalating detention campaigns coincide with Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
It said the raids are often accompanied by field executions, home demolitions and vandalism, violent interrogations, and severe beatings, as well as the detention of Palestinians as hostages.
The total the number of detentions in the West Bank since the beginning of the ongoing aggression has reached approximately 19,000, including more than 590 women and approximately 1,550 children.
These figures include those who were kept in detention by the occupation and those who were later released, but do not account for thousands of detainees from Gaza.
Meanwhile, more than 20 international aid agencies sent an urgent letter to the United Nations and heads of state around the world on Wednesday, calling for immediate intervention to halt Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.
The agencies based their letter on the findings of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which concluded that Israel committed four of the five acts of genocide defined in the 1948 Convention.
The letter warned that the situation in Gaza is the most deadly in the Strip’s history unless urgent action is taken.
The aid agencies emphasised that the militarisation of the humanitarian aid system in Gaza has become a deadly threat, with thousands being shot while trying to access food and water.
They warned that the continued blockade and attacks will completely drain life, and called on governments to act to stop the violence and end the occupation.
These demands come as the Israeli occupation army continues its operations against Gaza City, carrying out extensive raids and shelling of the northern and western neighbourhoods, amid a military campaign involving two divisions of its soldiers, and relentless targeting of buildings and residential towers.
- EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday that Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza will make an already desperate situation even worse.
In a post on X, she wrote: ‘It will mean more death, more destruction and more displacement.’
Kallas added that the European Commission will present measures on Wednesday to pressure the Israeli government to change course over the war in Gaza.
‘Suspending trade concessions and imposing sanctions on extremist ministers and violent colonists would clearly signal that the EU demands an end to this war,’ she said.
China is urging Israel to immediately halt its military operation in the Gaza Strip to prevent the aggravation of an already severe humanitarian crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian stated on Wednesday.
‘We insist that Israel follow the resolute calls of the international community and immediately stop its military operation in Gaza, achieving a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire as soon as possible to avoid an even more serious humanitarian crisis,’ he emphasised during a briefing.
The Chinese diplomat clarified that Beijing hopes all relevant parties will prioritise the task of maintaining peace and stability in the region and ‘play a constructive role in reducing tensions’.
‘China firmly opposes the escalation surrounding Israel’s military operation in Gaza. We condemn all actions that harm civilians and violate international law, express serious concern over the growing tensions, and oppose any party provoking the conflict,’ he concluded.
The Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the new ground offensive launched by Israeli occupation forces on Gaza City as horrific.
The ministry said in a post on X, ‘It (the attack) exacerbates the humanitarian crisis and hinders the release of the hostages. The Israeli government must abide by international law.’
The State of Qatar condemned the large-scale ground operation launched by the Israeli occupation to control Gaza, considering it an extension of the genocidal war against the Palestinian people and a flagrant violation of international law.
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned, in a statement on Wednesday, that the Israeli occupation seeks to undermine the chances of peace in the region through systematic plans that pose a threat to regional and international peace and security.
It added that these plans include the brutal genocidal war on Gaza and its settlement, colonial, and racist policies based on the logic of arrogance, aggression, and treachery.
These policies require decisive international solidarity to compel it to comply with international legitimacy resolutions.
The Ministry reiterated the State of Qatar’s firm and permanent position in support of the Palestinian cause and the steadfastness of the brotherly Palestinian people, based on international legitimacy resolutions and the two-state solution, ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
