Dr. Basim Na’im, the Palestinian Minister of Health, reported on Saturday evening that the Israeli army killed 40 Palestinians, including one in the West Bank, and injured 178 residents, including 23 in the West Bank, in the last 48 hours.
Dr. Na’im said during a program called “Meet the Press” in Gaza city, that among the killed residents, two handicapped persons, one of them is deaf while the other suffers mental disability.
Dr. Na’im added that six of the killed residents were directly hit by Israeli shells and that their bodies were severely mutilated.
Also, Dr. Na’im stated that medics, doctors, rescue teams, and operations rooms are facing a real crisis as a result of high casualties and the lack of medical equipment in the Gaza Strip which is completely sealed by the Israeli troops.
He also said that X-Ray for some of the killed residents did not show any fragmentations of explosives which indicated that the army is using a new kind of shells.
Meanwhile, Dr. Yousef Rizqa, the Palestinian Minister of information, held the International Community and Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, directly responsible for the “Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip”.
Rizqa made his statements during the “Meet the Press” program which he attended along with Dr. Na’im.
Rizqa stated that Israel is encouraged by the international silence and the support it receives from the U.S administration.
He appealed the international community, and the nations that seek peace, to interfere and pressure Israel in order to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people.
Dr. Rizqa added that the weakness of the Arab response to the Israeli attacks is encouraging Israel to carry further attacks. He called on the Arab leaders, kings and the Arab League to adopt a firm stance against the ongoing Israeli aggression.
On Saturday at night, a mother, her mother, her five-year old child daughter and her twenty-year old son were killed after the Israeli army shelled with artillery Al Shujaeyya neighbored in Gaza city.
Two handicapped residents were also killed by the Israeli army on Saturday. One of the casualties is deaf while the other suffered mental disability.
