More than 12,000 Palestinians including 5,000 children killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza

Middle East, News November 18, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Gaza officials have reported that Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive operations have resulted in more than 12,000 deaths, including 5,000 children. The Israeli military has been conducting relentless airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since October 7 following the Hamas attacks.

The Palestinian Health Ministry announced that more than 30,000 people are severely injured with 75% of them being women and children. There are 3,750 missing persons, including 1,800 children who are still under the rubble.

The ministry said that the numbers are estimated as the official death toll in Gaza had not been updated for days due to the collapse of its health system.

“The victims include more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women, while 30,000 others have been injured,” the Ministry’s media office said in a statement. “The Israeli occupation has committed 1,270 massacres,” the statement said. “A total of 200 medics, 22 civil defense personnel, and 52 journalists were also killed in the assaults,” it added.

It also added that the Israeli attacks have forced 25 hospitals and 52 healthcare centers out of service, while Israeli forces have targeted 55 ambulances.

Power cuts

Hospitals and healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip are forced to be shut down due to the lack of fuel and power cuts. The health ministry in Gaza said that 24 patients have died in the past two days at Al-Shifa hospital due to power cuts, as Israeli forces keep blockading the medical facility.

“Twenty-four patients in different departments have died over the last 48 hours as vital medical equipment has stopped functioning because of the power outage,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement on November 17, 2023.

*^{Fire and smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on October 7, 2023. (Image Credit: AP/Fatima Shbair)}*

The Israeli military has been attacking hospitals and healthcare facilities claiming that Hamas is using the hospitals as a command center. Hamas denies using hospitals for military purposes. It says some hostages have received treatment at medical centers but they have not been held inside them.

Much of the besieged city is turned into rubbles after Israel’s airstrikes. Israeli military had ordered a depopulation of the whole northern half of the Gaza Strip leaving nearly two-thirds of Gazans homeless.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), quoting Palestinian data, said Israeli attacks had destroyed or damaged at least 45% of Gaza’s housing units. Officials say a humanitarian crisis for the 2.3 million residents of Gaza is entering a new, more dire phase as the Israeli war continues.

UN deliveries suspended

The United Nations was forced to suspend much of its aid operation in the region due to the shortage of fuel and a communication shutdown. The suspension of the UN’s operation in Gaza has deepened the misery for thousands of homeless Palestinians who had been relying on the aid for food and essential supplies.

The United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) said that civilians face the “immediate possibility of starvation” due to the lack of food supplies. “With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation,” WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said in a statement.

*^{Hundreds were injured in the Israeli air attack hitting Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip, on October 31, 2023. (Image Credit: Times of Gaza)}*

The World Health Organization has also warned about the spread of disease, including respiratory infections and diarrhea, due to the lack of medical supplies and dire conditions in which the families are living.