Gaza death toll climbs to 23,084 as Israeli attacks continue
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Palestinian men evacuate the body of a victim after a reported Israeli bombardment hit a car in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 8, 2024 amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the Israeli aggression has killed 23,084 people and wounded 58,926 people since October 7. The ministry said on Monday that the Israeli occupation forces had committed 17 massacres in the Gaza Strip, killing 249 people and injuring 510 people within 24 hours.
The ministry added that hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip had lost their ability to treat the wounded in all departments, including intensive care. It said that there was severe overcrowding in hospitals in the area and that hundreds of wounded people were sleeping on the ground in the corridors and squares.
Also on Monday, the government media office in the Gaza Strip called for the opening of the Rafah border crossing and the transfer of 6,000 injured people for treatment abroad “immediately and urgently”, in light of the humanitarian crisis that the Strip is facing as a result of the Israeli war.
The media office said that the Israeli aggression had completely put 30 hospitals out of service and that the number of injuries in the Gaza Strip had reached more than 58,000 injuries, including 6,000 life-threatening injuries, and nearly 5,000 serious injuries.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported the displacement of 1.9 million people from the Gaza Strip since 7 October and said that only 5 health centres out of 22 affiliated with UNRWA were operating in the central and southern regions of the Strip.
UNRWA said that the pressure on the people of Gaza was enormous and that it did not know how long they would endure these harsh conditions without food, shelter, and water.
Scott Anderson, the agency’s deputy director of Gaza operations, said in an interview with CNN: “The situation has become very difficult, especially since we are in the winter, and most of the population is living in tents.” He added, “Gaza has turned into a city of tents, and its residents are doing their best to live their lives and take care of their children.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said: “The world cannot stand by while the children of the Gaza Strip are now dead and deprived, with living conditions that are rapidly deteriorating.”
On the ground, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades – the military wing of the Popular Front – said that it had targeted 3 Israeli vehicles in the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, and destroyed them partially or completely, and that it had also engaged in violent clashes with the occupation forces in the area.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said that it was engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli occupation forces with machine guns and anti-tank missiles in the areas of the incursion into Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said that 19 soldiers had been injured during the past 24 hours in the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip. This came while violent battles were taking place between the resistance and the occupation forces, especially in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian factions said, in a statement, that the Israeli occupation government was still seeking, in its old and new plan, to liquidate the Palestinian cause and displace the Palestinian people from all of their lands, stressing that “this illusion will be shattered on the rock of the steadfastness and patience of the heroic people.”
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