For the 82nd consecutive day, the Israeli occupation’s massive carnage continues to claim more lives in the Gaza Strip as its army persists in bombing homes and buildings and targeting civilians.
The ministry also said that the Israeli occupation has intensified its aggression in multiple forms, including mass executions, massacres, wiping out entire residential neighbourhoods, deprivation of health services, and lack of humanitarian supplies.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said that the Israeli occupation army committed 18 horrific massacres in different areas of the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, killing at least 241 civilians and injuring over 382 others, while a large number of victims are still under the rubble of bombed buildings or on roads.
In a statement issued, the health ministry added that the death toll from Israeli bombardments in Gaza has risen to 20,915, mostly women and children, while the number of wounded has climbed to over 55,000 people.
The health ministry also voiced concern that attacking the area around the Nasser Medical Complex would mimic the tactics used by the occupation against the Shifa Medical Complex and hospitals in the northern part of Gaza.
It indicated that 311 health personnel were killed during the Israeli attacks and destroyed 102 ambulances.
The Israeli occupation deliberately targeted 141 medical facilities and put 23 hospitals and 53 primary care centres out of service, the health ministry estimated.
The health ministry pointed out that Israel is still detaining 99 health personnel from the Gaza Strip, including the directors of hospitals in northern Gaza, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, and Dr. Ahmed Muhanna.
The health ministry also said that the Israeli occupation forces are deliberately targeting the health presence in northern Gaza, leaving about 800,000 people, including patients, pregnant women, and babies there at risk of death.
It further noted that the occupancy has reached 350 per cent in Gaza’s hospitals, while hundreds of patients are being treated on the floor.
“The health situation in hospitals in southern Gaza is catastrophic and complicated, due to a shortage of clinical, medical, and human resources suitable to handle the volume and variety of injured patients.” It added that medical teams prioritize critical cases to save what can be saved, losing dozens of lives daily due to the weakness of medical resources.
More than 1.8 million people were displaced, while 2.4 million people are living in difficult and unprecedented humanitarian conditions, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, 900,000 children in the shelter centres suffer from dehydration, famine, digestive and respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and anemia.
The Ministry pointed out that “50,000 pregnant women are in shelter centres denied access to water, food, or health supplies, while about 180 women give birth every day in unsafe and inhumane conditions.”
“70 per cent of kidney failure patients are exposed to catastrophic health risks, as a result of the difficulty of accessing dialysis services due to the heavy bombing, especially in northern Gaza.”
“The wounded are experiencing catastrophic and unbearable conditions. We are observing accelerating complications in their health conditions, severe infections of wounds and burns that are difficult to heal, and we are losing the lives of large numbers of wounded.”
The Health Ministry further called on international institutions to act to find effective and urgent mechanisms to prevent a real humanitarian disaster and famine.
It also called for “providing the appropriate shelter, sufficient quantities of drinking water, personal hygiene, food, winter clothing, blankets, and medical centres for the displaced families.”
Since Oct. 7, the Israeli occupation army launched a bloody aggression on the Gaza Strip, causing a severe humanitarian and health catastrophe.
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law as it exposes civilians’ lives to extreme danger, which requires immediate international intervention.
The international community must force the Israeli occupation forces to abide by international human rights and humanitarian laws, mainly protecting the rights and lives of civilians, prohibiting their targeting and preserving their safety, and holding the Israeli leaders accountable for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
