Israel continued its assault on the Gaza Strip on Thursday despite intensifying international calls to reduce civilian casualties from its bombings as a surge in deadly diseases ravaged the displaced population.
Israel says its attack on Gaza is aimed at destroying Hamas, the group whose fighters stormed across the border fence from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking 240 hostages.
Since then, Israel has destroyed most of the Palestinian territories.
At least 18,608 people were killed and 50,594 injured in the Israeli attack on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Most of the 2.3 million residents have left their homes, many sleeping rough, leaving them vulnerable to disease.
At Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the trauma ward has been overwhelmed with injuries, sick babies have also been crammed into beds in the children’s ward.
A woman from the Palestinian Ashour family holds the body of a baby as others mourn on Dec. 14, 2023, at Najar hospital in Rafah. AFP via Getty Images
“Some patients come with cases of extreme dehydration, some of which can reach the level of kidney failure or poor kidney function,” said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, head of pediatrics.
There are up to 30 cases of hepatitis A, which takes up to a month to incubate, he said.
“So after a month there will be an explosion in the number of hepatitis A cases, and this is a very dangerous indicator that should be paid attention to, from overcrowding and consuming food that is not suitable for human consumption and using shared toilets,” he said. said.
Smoke rises between buildings after Israel struck a house in Khan Younis December 14, 2023. REUTERS People mourn as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in an airstrike December 14, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images
The coastline now faces a public health disaster due to the collapse of its health system and the spread of disease, UN humanitarian officials said.
“We have a textbook formula for epidemics and public health disasters,” said Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In central Rafah, in the southern coastal enclave, 24 people were killed in an Israeli attack that hit two houses, Hamas media said early Thursday.
Israeli troops operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Dec. 14, 2023. via REUTERS Israeli military vehicles operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Dec. 14, 2023. via REUTERS
Keep up with the news on the Israel-Hamas war and the surge in global antisemitism with The Post’s Israel War Updates, delivered straight to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Palestinian health ministry.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is visiting the region and will be in Israel on Thursday and Friday, will discuss with the Israelis the need to be more precise with their strikes against Hamas targets, spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in Gaza in its war with Hamas since October 7 have been unguided, otherwise known as “dumb bombs,” according to a US intelligence assessment reported by CNN.
Palestinians salvage property after an Israeli attack on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Dec. 14, 2023. Palestinian AP collects items from the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 14, 2023. .REUTERS
About 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions used by Israel have been unguided and the rest are precision missiles, CNN reports.
TANKS TANKS ATTACKED
Fears of conflict spreading in the region remain volatile.
A tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen was shot at by gunmen in a speedboat and targeted with missiles, maritime sources said on Wednesday.
It is the latest incident to threaten a vital shipping route after Yemen’s Houthi forces, backed by Iran, warned ships not to go to Israel.
Palestinians inspect the damage following Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 14, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
The cost of the Israel-Hamas war to neighboring Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan in terms of lost GDP could amount to $10.3 billion or 2.3%, and could double if the conflict drags on for another six months, a study commissioned by the UN Development Program said.
The Biden administration is delaying the sale to Israel of more than 20,000 US-made rifles amid concerns about increased attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Some 271 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces, including 69 children, in the occupied West Bank this year, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency said.
People grieve as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in an airstrike on December 14, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images
At least 288 displaced people in shelters run by the agency have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the agency added in a note on X.
Israel War Update
Get the most important developments in the region, globally and locally.
The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground attack has reached 115, and more than 600 wounded, according to the Israeli military’s website.
“Your heroism, and those who unfortunately fell and we could not bring them to this state of recovery, is the light that repels the darkness, and in this room there is so much light,” Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, the head of the Israeli forces. General Staff, told wounded soldiers during the Jewish Hanukkah celebration ceremony in Ramat Gan.
PROTEST, BE CAREFUL
Several Biden administration staffers held a vigil in front of the White House late Wednesday to call on Washington to support a cease-fire in Gaza.
The group of about 60 people carried a banner that read: “President Biden, your staff demands a cease-fire.”
“We are appalled by the brutal October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians, and have been appalled by the disproportionate response by the Israeli government, which has indiscriminately killed thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza and caused over a million homeless,” the protesters said in a statement read by Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned a few weeks ago.
In New York, demonstrations were held demanding the release of the remaining 135 hostages held in Gaza.
Most Israelis say the army should not back down from the ongoing offensive to destroy Hamas.
“It’s terrible. It’s terrible that there are so many civilians killed,” said Jerusalem resident Adam Saville. “But this is war, and that’s what happens in war.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
