As the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip entered day 100 on Sunday, massive aerial and artillery strikes continued to pound neighbourhoods and homes and massacre more civilians, mostly children and women.
The Israeli occupation army continued to attack different areas of Gaza, killing and injuring a number of citizens.
One young man was killed and others injured when an Israeli airstrike targeted a civilian car in al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Al-Shifa Hospital received four dead bodies following Israeli attacks on homes in Gaza City, while two citizens were killed and others were injured in an attack in Abasan al-Kabira City, east of Khan Yunis.
Ten bodies were found in a house after Israeli army tanks withdrew from the entrance of al-Maghazi refugee camp.
Two young men were also killed and their father wounded when an Israeli drone bombed them in Qizan Abu Rashwan area, southeast of Khan Yunis.
Casualties were also reported following an aerial attack on a house belonging to the family of Abul-Sabeh in al-Bassa area of Deir al-Balah City in central Gaza.
Another attack in al-Baraka area of Deir al-Balah claimed the lives of civilians and injured others.
The Israeli army also bombed a house in Barbara refugee camp in central Rafah, injuring a number of citizens.
Other casualties were reported in different areas of Gaza following Israeli aerial and artillery attacks.
• ‘The deliberate targeting by the criminal Israeli occupation of a technical team affiliated with the Palestinian Telecommunications Company while they were working to repair communication lines in Gaza, despite having prior coordination, is a heinous brutal war crime and a treacherous operation that demonstrates the bloodthirstiness of this Nazi-like occupation that does not abide by agreements or commitments,’ Hamas said on Sunday.
Hamas added that this crime, which killed two employees, ‘adds to the crimes of cutting off communications throughout the entire Gaza Strip, as well as the crimes of depriving the people of water, food, and medicine, and all that increases the suffering of the people in Gaza.’
It called on human rights institutions ‘to document this crime in order to condemn and prosecute the criminal occupation army and its Nazi leaders who incite killing and genocide against our Palestinian people without any deterrent or concern for their trial before the International Court of Justice for the crime of genocide and ethnic cleansing.’
The two members of the telecommunications crew were killed on Saturday in Khan Yunis in an Israeli shelling that targeted them during a repairs mission which had been officially coordinated through the International Committee of the Red Cross, raising the number of communications crew killed since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza 100 days ago to 13.
- The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said that the past 100 days have felt like 100 years for the people of Gaza due to the Israeli military aggression.
Lazzarini added in a statement: ‘The magnitude of death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss, and sorrow in the past 100 days stains our common humanity.’
He pointed out that in the past 100 days, continuous shelling across Gaza has caused mass displacement of a community in a constant state of change, as they have been uprooted and forced to leave places overnight, only to move to equally unsafe locations.
He affirmed that this is the largest displacement of the Palestinian people since 1948, affecting over two million individuals – which is the entire population of Gaza.
He said: ‘Many of them will suffer physically and psychologically for life. The vast majority, including children, suffer severe psychological trauma.’
He highlighted that UNRWA’s overcrowded and unhealthy shelters have become a ‘home’ for over 1.4 million people.
‘They lack everything, from food to hygiene items to privacy. People live in inhumane conditions where diseases, including among children, are spreading.
‘They are living in unstable conditions for human habitation, rapidly approaching famine.’
Lazzarini stressed that the crisis in Gaza is a man-made catastrophe exacerbated by inhumane practices, including the use of food, water, and fuel as tools of war.
He warned that humanitarian aid alone will not be sufficient to avert the looming famine, and called for the flow of commercial goods to be allowed and for the elimination of cumbersome procedures for aid entry into Gaza, as well as the obstacles hindering the safe and organised distribution of aid.
The UNRWA Commissioner-General noted that Israel disregards international humanitarian law, which was designed to protect civilians, and condemned its targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and UNRWA shelters during the past three months, which has killed hundreds of civilians and injured thousands.
He expressed regret that despite repeated appeals, the humanitarian ceasefire remains ineffective in stopping the killing of people in Gaza and enabling the safe delivery of food, medicine, water, and shelter.
As the winter season begins, he underlined that living conditions have deteriorated, especially for those living outdoors.
He said: ‘Humanitarian workers, including 146 of my colleagues in UNRWA, as well as doctors, journalists, and children have been killed – no one has been spared.
‘Entire residential neighbourhoods, places of worship, and historical buildings have been demolished, eradicating centuries of history, civilisation, and people’s memories.’
Lazzarini concluded: ‘For the people of Gaza, the past 100 days have felt like 100 years.’
• Ismail Haneyya, Hamas’ political bureau head, has called on Arab elites to work on several paths, the first of which is genuine participation in the ongoing existential battle.
He called for the establishment of an Arab front to support the resistance and the formation of the Freedom and Justice Alliance for Palestine within the framework of expanding international solidarity with Palestine, as well as the path of healing the wounds of the Palestinian people.
In a conference titled ‘Freedom for Palestine’ held in Istanbul on Sunday, the Hamas leader said: ‘The criminal Zionist destruction, siege, wall, massacres, oppression, incursions into Al-Aqsa, and grave violations against the land, humanity, and holy sites throughout Palestine, require a significant and effective mobilisation of brothers of religion, Arab identity, humanity, and values in several paths, the first of which is genuine participation in this existential battle through comprehensive and direct resistance against this usurping entity.’
Haneyya added: ‘If participation in this path becomes impossible, we move on to participating in other paths, including the path of scientific, cultural, literary, legal, academic, political, media, religious, social, economic, feminist, and youth elites rallying around the resistance of the Palestinian people and forming a broad front to support and defend it.’
He called for the establishment of the ‘World Front for Supporting Palestinian Resistance’ and active involvement in this Front.
The Hamas leader pointed out that the third path is the criminalisation of the Zionist movement in all international forums and courts.
This includes efforts to reintroduce a resolution criminalising Zionism in the United Nations and working to issue this resolution.
It also involves expanding the boycott of Israel and pursuing its political and military leaders responsible for crimes in Palestine before courts and forums, imposing isolation on its leaders and its spokespersons, and preventing them from speaking at universities, conferences, and various forums.
He went on that the next path is to expand international solidarity with the Palestinian people through the formation of an international alliance titled ‘The Alliance for Freedom and Justice for Palestine’ to pursue various popular and official efforts to expose the Israeli crimes and support the Palestinian people on their path to freedom.
Haneyya emphasised that the final path is ‘healing the wounds of our people in the Gaza Strip, the heroes and free people who have sacrificed their most precious possessions for the sake of Palestine and the resistance.’
This path requires continuous efforts to break the siege on the Gaza Strip and ‘provide the necessary means for a dignified life for our people in Gaza through a humanitarian alliance to aid our people in Gaza.’
