On Monday, day 255 of the ongoing Israeli genocide of the Palestinians in the devastated, destroyed, and besieged Gaza Strip, Israel’s missiles, shells, and live rounds, killed and injured dozens of Palestinians.
In northern Gaza, at least one Palestinian was killed, and several others were injured when the army fired a missile at a school, housing displaced families in Beit Hanoun.
Two Palestinians were killed and at least thirteen were injured, including women and children, when the army fired missiles at several homes on Zarqa Street, north of Gaza City.
Also in Gaza City, at least three Palestinians, including a woman, were killed and at least four were injured, some seriously when the army bombarded a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
Two Palestinians were also killed and thirteen were injured when the army fired a missile at a home in the northern part of Gaza City.
In central Gaza, an Israeli military Quadcopter drone fired many live rounds at farmlands in the Al-Haker area in Deir Al-Balah, while the Israeli Air Force also fired missiles at dozens of homes in the Nusseirat refugee camp, while military helicopters flew over the area and fired live rounds.
Furthermore, the army fired missiles at the homes of the Khatib and Najjar families in the Al-Boreij refugee camp, in central Gaza, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, among them are nine slain Palestinians, including six children, and eleven wounded who were located under the rubble on Block 4.
The Israeli army also continued the wiring and detonating of homes in the Al-Mughraqa village, north of the Nusseirat refugee camp.
#Gaza is the most dangerous places in the world for aid workers. Since the war began, 193 @UNRWA colleagues have been killed – the highest death toll in @UN history.
Despite this, our colleagues keep working to support families & provide aid amid the dire humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/TNcpGToi1V
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 17, 2024
It is worth mentioning that Palestinian medics found the corpses of two Palestinians, west of Rafah, in Gaza’s southmost part, after the army fired shells at homes.
It is worth mentioning that, on Sunday, the army released the names of two soldiers who were killed in northern Gaza, and the names of seven soldiers who were killed in Rafah, on Saturday.
“By God, her Eid sandals, oh God” A brother bids farewell to his sister with these words after her murdered as a result of an Israeli attack on Al-Bureij refugee camp. pic.twitter.com/APXoqB3uzC
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) June 16, 2024
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the Israeli army committed three massacres of families in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians, among them 41 slain residents and 102 wounded who were moved to medical centers.
Israel has now killed at least 37.337 Palestinians, and injured more than 85.299, mostly women, children, and elderly, in several parts of the Gaza Strip, since October 7, 2023.
The number of slain Palestinians does not include those who remain missing, under the rubble of bombarded homes and buildings, on destroyed streets, and in alleys across the coastal enclave.
Note: There has been a variety of misleading reports, and misinformation regarding allegations about the Health Ministry in Gaza, UNRWA, and the UN “reducing the number of slain Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
The simple fact is the Health Ministry said it can no longer count the dead, especially due to the constant bombing, massive destruction, and the fact that all medical centers, emergency services, and hospitals, can barely function.
The Health Ministry stated that “trying to locate the bodies of slain Palestinians under the rubble of the hundreds of bombarded homes and buildings is a gigantic task that cannot be performed or prioritized as long as the bombing continues, amidst the lack of fuel and excavation machines due to the siege.”
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the United Nations secretary general, said (about 2 days ago) that the number of slain Palestinians “remains unchanged,” and added that “a lower figure provided by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) represented only the number of slain Palestinians who have been officially identified.”
On its part, CNN said: “The United Nations on Monday clarified that the overall number of fatalities in Gaza tallied by the Ministry of Health in Gaza remains unchanged, at more than 35,000, since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas on October 7.”
CNN quoted the United Nations stating that the “total number of deaths in the Gaza Strip remain unchanged, after the controversy over the revised data.”
It added the number was reduced because the UN says it is now relying on the number of deceased women and children whose names and other identifying details have been fully documented, rather than the total number of slain women and children, including those who are yet to be identified.
The only way to officially identity and count the dead is a permanent ceasefire, and enormous efforts, especially by various parties and international bodies to locate and identify all slain Palestinians, remove the rubble, and begin the reconstruction of the destroyed Gaza Strip.
