THE Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued to carry out intensive deadly strikes targeting civilians in different areas of the Gaza Strip, mainly in Gaza City yesterday.
The IOF continued to detonate and bomb homes and tents and displace families across the Gaza Strip, further deepening the dire humanitarian crisis as the population grapples with worsening famine.
Airstrikes hit civilians in Gaza City with multiple casualties, including two children who sustained injuries when an Israeli quadcopter dropped bombs on them near Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, while dozens of aid seekers were killed and injured near distribution points.
Other Gazans were pronounced dead after they succumbed to injuries they sustained in recent attacks, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while hospital sources said at mid-afternoon that the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza had risen to 42 since dawn.
Telecommunications services are down in parts of the Gaza Strip, with widespread disruption after attacks to internet and landlines attributed to Israeli attacks on main routes supplying the territory.
The Health Ministry in Gaza recorded four deaths ‘due to famine and malnutrition’ in the past 24-hour reporting period, including one child, with total deaths due to starvation now 435, including 147 children.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNRWA issued urgent appeals to the international community, warning of the catastrophic collapse of Gaza’s health system and calling for an immediate ceasefire in light of the UN report that found Israel guilty of genocide.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said military escalation and forced displacement are driving Gaza’s hospitals to the brink of collapse.
He described the situation as ‘inhumane,’ stressing that relentless assaults and evacuations in northern Gaza are triggering new waves of displacement, pushing traumatised families into ever-shrinking areas ‘unfit for human dignity’ and ‘health facilities, already under unbearable strain, are now facing complete breakdown’.
Hamas issued a global appeal urging worldwide solidarity actions with Gaza and for three consecutive days of action, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday as ‘days of rage’ against occupation and its supporters.
Hamas urged global protesters to demand an end to the genocide, the opening of border crossings, the lifting of the blockade and encouraged mass demonstrations across cities and capitals around the world.
It denounced the destruction of residential towers in Gaza, continuous airstrikes, forced displacement of civilians, the US backing of the occupation and international complicity.
Hamas also highlighted the importance of mobilising students and labour, while also urging support for the ‘Global Sumud Flotilla’ heading towards Gaza, stressing its humanitarian role and warning Israel against targeting it.
‘Hamas calls for a new phase of sustained global mobilisation against the Zionist aggression,’ its statement read, ‘to amplify the outcry against killings, bombardment, genocide, starvation, and forced displacement, while unifying efforts to end the assault, lift the blockade, and reopen crossings’.