On Saturday, day 316 of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Israeli missiles, shells, and live fire killed and injured dozens of Palestinians, including children and women. Palestinian children were torn to pieces as the army bombarded displaced families in central Gaza.
Update 9:30 pm:
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the Israeli occupation committed 5 massacres in the past 24 hours, killing 69 and wounding 136. In addition, a number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.
Four Palestinians were killed on Saturday evening in an Israeli airstrike on Deir al-Balah city, central Gaza Strip.
Local sources reported that the Israeli occupation forces targeted a house in the Al-Hakr area, south of Deir al-Balah city, which led to the killing of four Palestinians and the injury of others.
The Israeli occupation warplanes also launched a raid on a residential tower in the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Saturday that Israel has reduced the so-called “humanitarian zone” to only 11% of the Gaza Strip, causing chaos and fear among the displaced.
UNRWA indicated that thousands of families in Gaza were displaced due to the issuance of new evacuation orders by the occupation authorities. The UN agency renewed its call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
In this regard, UNRWA Communications Officer Louise Waterridge highlighted that “there is nothing in the Gaza Strip but windows, houses and shattered lives, and the Palestinians are trapped in this endless nightmare.”
Palestinians fled from the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip after threats and warnings from the Israeli occupation forces:
Civil Defence:
Over 45,000 displaced persons are being obliged to flee wide swathes in the refugee camps of Gaza’s Middle Area —Al Zawaideh, Al Maghazi, Deir al Balah and Al Nuseirat! pic.twitter.com/Gc5dKkeVAZ
— Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza) August 17, 2024
Gaza update; further evacuations ordered ahead of more IDF operations
The Israeli military is calling on Palestinians in the Maghazi area of central Gaza to evacuate and head to the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone.
Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language… pic.twitter.com/ePE1adaQTG
— Brian BJ (@iamBrianBJ) August 17, 2024
Israeli occupation forces continue their aggression against the entire population of the Gaza Strip, by land, sea and air, since October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of at least 40,074 citizens and the injury of 92,537 others, while thousands of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and rescue crews are unable to reach them.
Update 11:15 am: Six Palestinians, including two children, were killed and many were injured, when the army fired a missile at a home for the Abu Mu’alla family, west of the Nusseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.
In the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, at least fifteen citizens from one family, including children and women were killed and their bodies severely mutilated, and dozens were injured when Israeli warplanes bombed the tents of displaced families.
Medical sources said the Israeli bombing killed Sami Al-Ejla along with his mother, his wife, and their eleven children when the army fired a missile at a warehouse where the family sheltered.
💢 مصادر محلية: الشــهيد سامي العجلة الذي استـــشهد مع أمه وزوجتيه و11 فردا من أبنائه بعد قصف الاحتلال (بركس) نزحوا إليه في الزوايدة وسط قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/l0xtSrqSws
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) August 17, 2024
Local sources said that the Israeli war jet conducted three strikes in the vicinity of the southern entrance to the town of Al-Zawaida, where the displaced families tried to shelter.
Al-Jazeera English reported that the army children were torn to pieces in the Zawaida attacks, and added that the bombing “targeted a warehouse where a displaced family was sheltering. The warehouse was hit by at least three Israeli missiles, causing a great deal of destruction.”
“A massive fire broke out, burning everything in the warehouse as children were torn to pieces. Rescue efforts are continuing to try to recover more bodies.”
In Nusseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, the army fired a missile at a home for the Abu Sheika family, killing two Palestinians and wounding several others.
Israeli navy boats also fired live rounds at displaced families near the Nusseirat shore in central Gaza.
Al-Jazeera said the Israeli army is expanding its ground offensive in central Gaza, and issued new evacuation orders for the Palestinians in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, “specifying a number of blocks to be completely emptied.”
It added that the orders “have extended to Salah al-Din road, which is the main road linking northern and southern Gaza and even linking different central governorates.”
“Families have started to pack what they have to flee to Deir Al-Balah, which is already overwhelmed with displaced families,” Al-Jazeera said and added that “the “humanitarian zone is shrinking. People are now crammed in the western side of Deir Al-Balah.”
The orders instruct the Palestinians to leave areas in Khan Younis, in addition to Deir Al-Balah and Beit Hanooun.
All families in Blocs 89, 36, 125, 127, and 2356 of the neighborhoods, east of Deir Al-Balah, Al-Qarara, Al-Mawasi, Hamad City, and Nasr City, have been ordered to leave as the army plans to expand its offensives there.
In the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, two Palestinians were killed, and at least five were injured when the army fired a missile at a home for the Madi family in the neighborhood.
Three Palestinians were also killed, and many were injured when the army fired a missile on Palestinians in Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City, and two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombing of Doula junction on street 8 of the Zeitoun neighborhood.
Furthermore, a child was injured due to Israeli gunfire targeting the tents of the displaced families near Hamad Residential City northwest of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army snipers deliberately shot 9-year-old Alaa Abu Aasi in her spine, intending to execute her directly when she was playing near her tent after her home was destroyed!!
Direct sniping for execution, premeditated against children, a heinous crime upon another crime‼️ pic.twitter.com/KzqnOMIAuI
— Nour Naim| نُور (@NourNaim88) August 16, 2024
Also, many citizens were injured when the army bombarded a house near the European Hospital east of Khan Younis.
The Israeli warplanes also launched missiles at the main Salahuddin Street that links all areas in the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip, with Khan Younis.
The army also fired a missile at a horse-drawn cart in Khan Younis, killing at least two Palestinians and wounding several others.
Furthermore, an Israeli military quadcopter killed a six-year-old child, Youssef Abu Ayada, after shooting him in the head, as he slept in a tent in Hamad City, west of Khan Younis.
Breaking: The child, Youssef Abu Ayada (6 years old), was killed after being shot in the head by an Israeli “Quadcopter” drone while he was sleeping in a displacement tent near Hamad City, west of Khan Younis. pic.twitter.com/X66Y3uj2TK
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) August 17, 2024
Also, the Palestinians located the corpses of two Palestinians under the rubble in the Zanna area, east of Khan Younis.
In addition, the army blew up residential buildings in the Tel Sultan neighborhood west of Rafah, in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost part.
It is worth mentioning that the army has destroyed more than %90 of the homes and buildings in Tal Al-Sultan.
#Gaza: New evacuation orders have been issued by Israeli authorities, even inside the so-called “humanitarian zone”.
Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go. People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale. pic.twitter.com/Myi6z6Ix87
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 16, 2024
It is worth mentioning that the Palestinian Health Ministry has confirmed the first case of Polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years and added that the affected patient is a 10-month-old baby from Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza.
The United Nations issued an urgent appeal for a seven-day pause of the bombing in Gaza to enable about 640.000 children to be vaccinated. At the same time, the World Health Organization said it intends to send 1.2 million vaccines to the coastal enclave.
Hundreds of thousands were displaced again today in Khan Younis under Israeli bombardment
The horrors of the Gaza Holocaust play out before our eyes day after day while our politicians compete for the affection of the Israeli death camp regime pic.twitter.com/YkRUTnyfzF
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) August 17, 2024
Also, after the army ordered the mass evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from southern Gaza, Friday, it issued more orders instructing the Palestinians to leave Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.
On the political level, Israel’s Walla News Agency claimed that there had been notable advancement in the discussions held in Doha over the past two days, aligning with U.S. assertions regarding a potential ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
The Israeli negotiators reportedly made headway in addressing the remaining contentious issues with the mediators, as indicated by the officials referenced by Walla.
In a departure from earlier negotiations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has reportedly granted Israeli negotiators greater flexibility, as an unnamed U.S. official noted.
However, despite the optimistic reports of progress, the outcome of the ongoing talks next week remains uncertain, with the possibility of either a hostage agreement and a ceasefire or a breakdown in negotiations leading to increased tensions involving Iran and Hezbollah.
Additionally, it has been reported that Hamas, which is indirectly involved in the Doha discussions, has accused Israel of attempting to introduce new conditions to an already established ceasefire framework, reiterating its demand for a resolution that includes an end to hostilities and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
On Friday, U.S President Joe Biden informed reporters that a resolution to the ongoing conflict in Gaza is “much, much closer” following two days of ceasefire discussions held in Qatar.
However, Biden emphasized that the situation is not yet finalized and urged all parties involved in the Middle East to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the negotiations at this critical juncture.
Additionally, the American President revealed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be heading to the Middle East to further advance diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire.
Mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States are anticipated to reconvene next week, aiming at reaching a conclusive agreement in Cairo.
As Israel continues its genocide and bombing of the devastated coastal enclave from the land, sea, and air since October 7, 2023, more than 40,005 Palestinians have been killed, among them more than 16.365 children, 11.012 women, 885 medical staff, 79 Civil Defense, and 203 UNRWA Staff, and at least 92,401, mostly children, women, and elderly have been injured, while thousands (About 10.000) of victims are still under the rubble and on the bombarded roads, as medics remain unable to reach them, since October 7, 2023.
