A TOTAL of 193 Palestinians were killed in 16 massacres perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces over the last 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, bringing the documented death toll since the outbreak of the Israeli war of genocide to 30,228, the majority of whom are innocent civilians, according to local health authorities.
In addition to the 193 fatalities, 920 other Palestinians were injured by Israeli artillery, aerial strikes or sniper fire over the last 24 hours, while the number of injuries documented since the beginning of the aggression have climbed to 71,377, the sources added.
Some victims remain under the rubble and in the streets, as the occupation forces continue to prevent the arrival of ambulance and rescue teams. Therefore, the actual figures are believed to be much higher.
Meantime, a Palestinian was killed and others injured this morning as Israeli airstrikes targeted a house belonging to the Abu Laila family in the town of Shawka, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, without prior warning.
Simultaneously, three Palestinians, including a child, were killed and others injured in the Israeli artillery shelling of a school housing displaced people in Hamad City, located northwest of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli tanks and bulldozers further broke the town of Al-Qarara north of Khan Younis amid intensive artillery shelling of the town.
Meantime, five Palestinians were killed and three others injured in the Israeli shelling of a group of citizens in the Al-Maslaba area east of the Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City.
Concurrently, ambulance and rescue teams retrieved the bodies of dozens of martyrs from the Naeem family after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Zaytoun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza City.
Earlier this morning, six Palestinians were killed and others injured when Israeli airstrikes targeted a house in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that the Israeli occupation forces continue to target residential neighbourhoods, and that its teams are trying to provide medical aid as much as possible.
It called for the establishment of field hospitals and the dispatch of international medical delegations due to the collapse of the healthcare services across the war-torn enclave.
Investigate PalestInian deaths demand
SEVERAL countries have joined the UN in calling for an investigation into the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians during an aid delivery in Gaza.
At least 117 people were killed and more than 760 injured on Thursday as they crowded around aid lorries.
UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the incident and said ‘desperate civilians’ need urgent help.
Hamas accused Israel of firing at civilians, but Israel said most died in a crush after it fired warning shots.
On Thursday, international criticism of Israel mounted with French President Emmanuel Macron saying civilians had been ‘targeted by Israeli soldiers’.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borell, described the incident as ‘totally unacceptable carnage’.
Reacting to the incident, Mr Guterres wrote on social media: ‘I condemn Thursday’s incident in Gaza in which more than 100 people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving aid.
‘The desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the north, where the UN has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week.’
On Friday, France, Italy and Germany also called for an independent investigation into the aid convoy deaths.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry correctly called the incident a ‘massacre’.
The UN Security Council scheduled a closed-door emergency meeting to discuss the incident, during which Algeria – the Arab representative of the body – put forward a draft statement blaming Israeli forces for ‘opening fire’.
While 14 of the Council’s 15 members supported the motion, the US blocked it, according to AP news agency, citing the Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour who spoke to reporters afterwards.
• See Editorial