MORE than 10,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Israel’s month-long genocide since October 7th, Gaza’s Health Ministry announced yesterday, with 10,022 people, including 4,104 children and 2,641 women, killed and 25,408 wounded.
Al-Qassam Brigades fighters exchanged fire with Israeli troops at different locations in Gaza yesterday.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that 250 were killed in overnight air strikes, with Israeli jets targeting three residential buildings, killing at least 45 people.
Israeli attacks destroyed the only specialised mental health centre in Gaza. They also hit the third floor of a paediatric hospital in Gaza City which treats children with cancer.
Israel’s military targeted the solar panel system of a building in the Al Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza, and multiple solar panels on the roofs of standing buildings, particularly in Gaza City, have been targeted and destroyed in the past few days.
Dozens of protesters gathered in front of Turkey’s Foreign Ministry where the country’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were holding talks. Students marched on the ministry chanting: ‘Murderer Blinken, get out of Turkey!’
NATO-member Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Israel, with President Erdogan saying that he could no longer speak to Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army has welcomed the deployment of a US nuclear missile submarine in the region on Sunday. Washington has described it as a bid to prevent the spread of war to other fronts.
‘It’s always good news to see that the Americans are moving in more assets,’ Israel military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hecht told reporters. ‘We see this as sort of a deterring, stabilising factor in the region.’
And South Africa has said it will recall all its diplomats from Israel. Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said all diplomatic staff in Tel Aviv would be called back to Pretoria.
Earlier, Turkey, Jordan, Bolivia, Honduras, Colombia, Chile and Bahrain also did the same and Bolivia has cut all diplomatic ties with Israel.
Leaders of 18 United Nations agencies and NGOs called for a ceasefire, expressing ‘shock and horror’ at the mounting death toll from the conflict.
‘We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough.’
‘The group condemned the killing of dozens of aid workers, saying: ‘Scores of aid workers have been killed since October 7th including 88 UNRWA colleagues – the highest number of United Nations fatalities ever recorded in a single conflict.’
