On Sunday, Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, reported that over 100,000 Palestinians, 60% of whom are children and women, remain in northern Gaza without access to food, water, and basic resources, including medical services.
Basal added that the Civil Defense receives numerous calls from northern Gaza but is unable to enter isolated and bombarded areas to evacuate the wounded or transfer the deceased to hospitals.
“We receive calls about dozens who are injured, dozens under the rubble,” he stated, “However, we are unable to enter those areas due to the ongoing Israeli bombing and the siege.”
|UNICEF Calls For Immediate End To Attacks On Civilians In Gaza|
He also mentioned that the Civil Defense and medical teams in Gaza are doing what they can despite the siege and the lack of resources, especially medical supplies and equipment.
Basal added that the Israeli army is working on destroying the health and emergency sectors and noted that approximately 137 slain Palestinians remain under the rubble in Beit Lahia after the Israeli army bombarded and destroyed it a few days earlier.
“We constantly receive calls from stranded families; they have no food, no water, no medicine,” he stated. “We have called on various international human rights groups to intervene but received no responses.”
It is worth mentioning that Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has ceased operations due to bombardment by the Israeli army.
On Sunday evening, Israeli forces targeted Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza.
Medical sources at Kamal Adwan Hospital reported that Israeli forces directly shelled its facilities, including the inpatient wards, the neonatal unit, the hospital courtyard, and water tanks, resulting in a child being seriously injured.
Additionally, Israeli artillery shelled the vicinity of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia refugee camp, while an Israeli drone fired at the gate and walls of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia.
Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) successful evacuation of the injured from the medical center, the United Nations team also withdrew from the site.
Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern #Gaza is receiving a constant stream of trauma patients due to ongoing hostilities in the area. The hospital has just one pediatrician, one orthopedic surgeon and limited nursing staff — @WHO team assessed. The hospital building and equipment… pic.twitter.com/gVwYZLAK6b
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 30, 2024
Despite the United Nations’ efforts to maintain the hospital’s functionality, the Israeli army’s bombardment resulted in the destruction of significant portions of the facility.
Additionally, Israeli artillery shelled the vicinity of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia refugee camp, while an Israeli drone fired at the gate and walls of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia.
In related news, The Associated Press (AP) published a report, Sunday, of its investigation into the Israeli invasions of three hospitals in northern Gaza, namely al-Awda, Indonesian, and Kamal Adwan hospitals, late last year.
The AP interviewed more than three dozen patients, witnesses, medical and humanitarian workers, as well as Israeli officials, and stated, “Israel has provided little to no evidence of a significant Hamas presence at these hospitals.”
In its report, the AP said it presented a dossier listing the incidents reported by those interviewed to the Israeli military spokesperson’s office, which stated it could not comment on specific events.
It added that all three hospitals in northern Gaza have come under fire or been raided again in recent weeks.
According to the World Health Organization, only 16 out of 39 hospitals are partly operational, most offering little more than first aid.
WHO reported that Israeli attacks in and around medical sites have killed 765 Palestinians and wounded 990 others.
These figures do not include patients who died or succumbed to their wounds due to the lack of medical supplies or oxygen during the sieges and bombings; the number remains unknown as the siege and bombing continue.
The Israeli occupation forces have continued their aggression on the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air since October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of at least 43,314 citizens and the injury of more than 102,019 others, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and rescue teams cannot reach them.
Among the slain Palestinians are at least 17,210 children, 11,742 women, 2,421 elderly people, 177 journalists, 85 emergency responders, 986 medical staff, and 203 UNRWA staff.
The British Lancet Medical Journal and other experts estimate the death toll in Gaza is much higher – and could be above 200,000, when counting both direct and indirect deaths related to the Israeli war on Gaza.
