THE GAZA death toll passed the 39,000 mark yesterday with the Health Ministry reporting at least 39,006 Palestinians have been killed and 89,818 wounded by Israeli attacks since October 7th 2023.
Mohamed Saqer, official spokesman of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, said Israeli attacks on eastern Khan Younis killed at least 45 people yesterday.
The medical facility, which is the last remaining hospital in southern Gaza, had been receiving a rising number of casualties, including children, since yesterday morning when the Israeli forces started their air and ground attacks, giving the residents no time to follow evacuation orders.
Graphic video footage showed the arrival of a truck loaded with the bodies of children, including one who appeared to be just months old, along with other dead and injured.
The Israeli military earlier issued a notice ordering people in eastern Khan Younis to move to al-Mawasi, warning that its forces were ‘about to forcefully operate’ in the area.
The residents were given no time to flee as the Israeli military operation started shortly after the leaflets were dropped.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said Israeli forces shot at a UN convoy heading to Gaza City yesterday, despite the movement being coordinated and approved by the Israeli authorities.
‘One vehicle received at least five bullets while waiting just ahead of the Israeli Forces’ checkpoint south of Wadi Gaza,’ he said. ‘The car was severely damaged, it left the convoy. The teams re-assembled and finally reached Gaza City.’
Lazzarini said the teams were ‘travelling in clearly marked UN armoured cars and wearing UN vests’, yet still had to duck and take cover. He called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi condemned the attack, saying it was ‘a war crime’, calling for the protection of UNRWA and other humanitarian teams ‘from Israeli occupation forces and war crimes.
‘Gaza has not only become a graveyard for children. It is a graveyard for (international) law, a shameful stain on the whole (international) order,’ Safadi added.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis is appealing for urgent blood donations, the Palestinian Health Ministry has said in a statement.
The hospital said it faces a shortage of blood units, ‘which poses a serious threat to the lives of the sick and injured in light of the ongoing massacres carried out by the occupation forces against innocent civilians.’
