THREE days of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip left 59 Palestinians dead by noon yesterday local time, including 14 children and three women, while 296 were wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in an update on the casualties.
Israel has waged dozens of airstrikes since Monday on the besieged Gaza Strip, targeting buildings and apartments that led to the heavy loss of life, mainly among civilians.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said yesterday that the Israeli escalation of violence against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, could amount to crimes under the Rome Statute.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) condemned ‘in the strongest possible terms’ the Israeli killing on Monday of four Palestine refugee children near Beit Hanoun refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
All four children came from the same family, two siblings and two cousins. They were under the age of 12 and attended UNRWA schools.
They were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoun that also led to the killing of 20 people, nine of them were children.
‘Our hearts go out to their families and friends in communities that have been so cruelly affected by this latest escalation,’ said UNRWA in a press statement.
Meanwhile massive Israeli forces have been sent to Lod within Israel as Israeli leader Netanyahu vowed to restore order with an ‘iron fist’.
Three Jewish suspects have been remanded over the fatal shooting on Monday of an Arab man.
A state of emergency was declared after hours of clashes between Palestinians and Israelis.
Israel ordered a massive boost Wednesday morning to police forces deployed in cities with Jewish and Arab populations.
The move came hours after the state of emergency was declared in Lod.
The rare emergency declaration in the central Israeli city prompted the urgent dispatching of several Border Police companies to work to ‘restore order’.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the city of Lod during the night. ‘I have been receiving updates all day on what is happening here in the city and I view it extremely gravely. It’s anarchy from rioters and we cannot accept it,’ Netanyahu said.
