A ceasefire has been agreed the elected government of Palestinian government Hamas and the Israeli forces, following nearly two weeks of Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza.
Israeli military began bombing the densely-populated Gaza Strip on 10 May. This round of attacks was in response to Gazan resistance to Israel’s intensified violence against the Palestinians of East Jerusalem (or al-Quds, as it is known in Arabic).
Worshippers in al-Aqsa mosque were attacked throughout Ramadan, whilst Palestinian residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhoods (also in al-Quds) were threatened with ethnic-cleansing. Brutal attacks against Arab Israelis increased throughout this period.
According to Gaza health officials, 232 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since 10 May, including 65 children. Almost 2000 have been wounded.
Israeli violence has destroyed 16,800 homes. The damage to critical infrastructure is massive.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported damage to 18 hospitals and clinics. One health facility was entirely destroyed. Almost half of all essential drugs have run out. The only laboratory able to test for Covid-19 was made “temporarily inoperable” due to the Israeli bombing.
Save the Children has said 50 schools were damaged, and at least six destroyed. The education of almost 42,000 children is likely to be disrupted.
Israeli bombs destroyed Gaza’s largest bookshop.
But the human toll weighs heaviest. Entire families have been killed. A group of 11 children receiving trauma counselling were killed in a single attack, reported the Norwegian Refugee Council.
At the time of writing, the ceasefire has held for almost 15 hours.
