Saturday 04 / May / 2024
Gaza: Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip struggled to find any safe area, as Israeli strikes demolished entire neighbourhoods. Hospitals ran low on supplies and a power blackout was expected within hours, deepening the misery in Gaza Strip.
Airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris.
Israel has vowed unprecedented retaliation against the Hamas militant group ruling the Palestinian territory after its fighters stormed through the border fence Saturday and gunned down hundreds of Israelis. Since then, militants have continued to fire rockets at Israel, including a heavy barrage at the southern town of Ashkelon on Wednesday.
The war, which has already claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate and compound the misery of people living in Gaza, where basic necessities and electricity were already in short supply.
Death toll rises
The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip and the West Bank has surged to 974, with over 5,000 injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.
According to a statement by the Health Ministry, 950 were martyred in Gaza Strip and more than 5,000 were injured in the ongoing violent airstrikes targeting the whole strip since Saturday.
The occupied West Bank was not spared from the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza Strip for the fifth day in a row. The number of martyrs climbed to 24, after two Palestinians were shot by the occupation forces in Ein Al-Louza neighbourhood in the town of Silwan as the occupation forces continue targeting the Palestinian people using live fire in various areas of the occupied West Bank, including the city of Jerusalem. Nearly 150 were injured.
On Saturday, the Palestinian resistance launched the surprise “Operation Al Aqsa Flood” on Gaza Envelop settlements in retaliation of the continuous Israeli violations against the Palestinian people.
UNRWA statement
Meanwhile, in New York, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reaffirmed that the agency has been unable to bring any aid into the Gaza Strip since Saturday.
It added that UNRWA employees continue their humanitarian work despite the risks and difficult circumstances. Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications said that the agency lost four of its employees as a result of the air strikes on Gaza and that at least 14 of its facilities were damaged directly and indirectly.
The UNRWA headquarters were subjected to collateral damage on Tuesday) due to airstrikes in the surrounding neighborhoods, she added. Some of UNRWAs employees were taking shelter in the same compound in a nearby building during the strikes, she said.
She called for the need for the conflict party to protect UN facilities and all schools. In this particular case, a United Nations school, which enjoyed double protection, was attacked, UNRWA hosts 170,000 people in more than 80 schools and other facilities throughout Gaza. As schools reach their capacity, people have been forced to seek shelter in healthcare facilities, Touma said.
She stated that the agency was forced to close its 14 food distribution centers and reduce its operations due to the current situation, expressing its deep concern that basic supplies, including fuel, would run out in the next few weeks.
The UNRWA Director of Media renewed the UN call on all parties to end the fighting everywhere and avoid further civilian casualties.
