UNITED NATIONS, Nov 27 (IPS) – After the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for deliberate war crimes committed against the people of Gaza, there has been a major outbreak of conflict, most of which is centered in the north of the area. regions. The humanitarian crisis is expected to worsen as the availability of essential services, such as water, food, fuel, and electricity has been severely reduced in the past few weeks due to the ongoing blockade by the Israeli authorities. Additionally, casualty and evacuation rates have reached new highs.
Despite repeated claims from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that the airstrikes are aimed at targeting Hamas members and infrastructure only, there have been airstrikes on residential areas occupied by displaced Gazans. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, there have been more than 44,000 casualties in the past 13 months. Desperate, Hungry and Besiegeda report by Human Rights Watch, estimates that about 1.9 million people in Gaza have been displaced.
On November 21, a series of night strikes destroyed a residential area in Beit Lahiya, causing extensive damage to civilian infrastructure. The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed that at least 66 people were killed in the attack. It is reported that many people are still buried under the rubble. The victims were taken to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is struggling due to overcrowding and dwindling resources.
The director of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safia, told the media that most of the dead were women and children. Abu Safia added that hospital workers rushed to the scene to retrieve the bodies from under the rubble, seeing many bodies hanging from the walls and roof of the collapsed building.
“A very large number of injured people have arrived, and there are many dead bodies hanging from the walls and ceiling. We are currently working with limited resources, which is why most of our staff are busy rescuing the injured due to the lack of ambulances and resources. The situation is truly dire. We will not be able to deal with this large number of wounded and injured people,” said Abu Safia.
Health officials have warned that insufficient fuel reserves are the cause of the failure of the health care system in Gaza. Margaret Harris, spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed specific concerns about the Kamal Adwan hospital due to the intensity of the airstrikes and the wide scale of the needs.
Marwan al-Hams, the director of Gaza’s hospitals, told reporters on November 22 that “all hospitals in Gaza will stop working or reduce their services within 48 hours due to the disruption of (Israel’s) fuel flow.”
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, warned on November 21 that the ongoing fighting threatens to halt aid operations in Gaza. Essential resources for shelters – such as food, water, and medical supplies – are almost completely depleted.
According to Hadi, the IDF blocked all imports for more than six weeks, deepening the levels of hunger, disease, and suffering, especially in northern Gaza. Bakeries, which served as a way to help millions of Gazans throughout the crisis, were closing “one after another” due to lack of flour for baking bread and fuel for electric generators. About 2 million people are predicted to be affected.
OCHA reports that since November 26, 41 attempts have been made by the UN to reach the Palestinians in the besieged areas of Northern Gaza with humanitarian aid, however none of them were carried out by the Israeli authorities. 37 projects were rejected by the authorities, and the four that were approved were less successful as they faced challenges on the ground.
On 22 November, WFP released its Global Outlook 2025, a report that examines issues affecting global food security. According to the figures in the report, Gaza is highly dependent on aid to survive, with approximately 91 percent of the population facing food insecurity. 16 percent live in catastrophic conditions.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
