On Wednesday, Day 159, the Israeli army continued the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas in various parts of the devastated and destroyed Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians, including many women and children.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the army “committed ten massacres against families, killing 88 and wounding 135, in the last 24 hours.
The Health Ministry added that Israel has now killed at least 31.272 Palestinians, (including at least 12.000 women and 12.3000 children) and injured more than 73.024, %72 of which are women and children, in several parts of the Gaza Strip, since October 7, 2023.
Israel has also destroyed more than 70.000 residential units and buildings and abducted more than 4.000 Palestinians, including women and children.
|Earlier Article: Day 159: “Israel’s Missiles Kill Dozens, Injure Hundreds In Gaza”|
At least twenty-two Palestinians, including many women and children, were killed and dozens were injured in Israeli bombings of homes in the Daraj, Zeitoun, and Al–Hawa neighborhoods in Gaza City.
Seven of the slain Palestinians, including three children, were killed in the home in the Daraj neighborhood, eight, including four children and two women, were killed in a home for the Azzam family in the Zeitoun neighborhood, and five Palestinians, including children, were killed and dozens were injured by Israeli artillery shells near the Al-Quds Hospital of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in the Tal A-Hawa neighborhood.
In Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the corpses of 24 Palestinians, including children and women, were found under the rubble of several parts of the city, especially in Hamad City, that were heavily bombarded by the Israeli army.
In addition, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams received a phone call from Al-Atrash family, who were trapped under the rubble of their destroyed house after it was bombed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza.
The PRCS added that it coordinated and followed up with the Civil Defense teams who rushed to the bombarded house, and transported 6 slain Palestinains, and 9 injured, to the hospital.
🚑The Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams received a phone call from Al-Atrash family, who were trapped under the rubble of their destroyed house after it was bombed in Deir al-Balah, central #Gaza. The PRCS coordinated and followed up with the civil defense teams until they… pic.twitter.com/xsOXwQCuhU
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 13, 2024
Achim Steiner, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, said reconstructing Gaza will need years if not decades, and added that the first step to recovery is providing the people with all they need in health aid.
In an earlier statement, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing at United Nations Balakrishnan Rajagopal said the Israeli bombing of Gaza led to the destruction of %70 its homes.
The estimate does not include the massive destruction of infrastructure, schools, and various facilities.
Last month, Rajagopal said the shortages of food, sanitation, and water in the Gaza Strip have reached unprecedented levels, after more than a million Palestinians who fled from various parts of the coastal enclave fled to Rafah, in the southernmost part of the enclave.
Furthermore, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a statement: “At least one UNRWA staff member was killed and another 22 were injured when Israeli Forces hit a food distribution centre in the eastern part of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.”
“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine. Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict. The Israeli Army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
“Israeli forces have hit one of our largest warehouses in south #Gaza used as food distribution centre”@JulietteTouma @BBCNews: This comes at a critical time as hunger spreads across #Gaza
How do we maintain aid operations when our teams & supplies are constantly under threat? pic.twitter.com/EJoV6NSzTr
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) March 13, 2024
Since the war began five months ago, UNRWA has recorded an unprecedented number of violations against its staff and facilities that surpass any other conflict around the world.
- At least 165 UNRWA team members killed including while in the line of duty;
- More than 150 UNRWA facilities were hit, some totally destroyed, among them many schools;
- More than 400 people killed while seeking shelter under the UN flag;
- Tunnels have reportedly been found under UNRWA facilities and installations used for military activities;
- UNRWA staff have reportedly been mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli detention centres.
“The United Nations, its personnel, premises, and assets must be protected at all times. Since this war began, attacks against UN facilities, convoys, and personnel have become commonplace in blatant disregard to international humanitarian law. I am calling once again for an independent inquiry into these violations and the need for accountability,” added Lazzarini.
UNRWA added that, in the last 5 months, around 150 of its buildings were bombed across the Gaza Strip, where thousands of families shelters, leading to teh death of at least 400, including children and women, and described that attacks as “outrageous & a clear violation of international law.”
It is worth mentioning that South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Naledi Pandor, said her country’s citizens who joined the Israeli army in its war on Gaza will be arrested and prosecuted when they return to their country.
Naledi made her statements earlier this week during the Palestine solidarity event that was attended by officials of the governing African National Congress Party.
