Israeli Strikes Slaughter Dozens More Palestinians in Gaza

Update on 11/20/24 at 8:43 pm EST: Al Jazeera reported that Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza killed at least 88 Palestinians early Thursday morning

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that Israeli attacks killed at least 13 Palestinians and wounded 84 over the previous 24-hour period.

Israeli attacks on Wednesday included a strike in western Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which targeted al-Mawasi, the so-called “safe zone” that Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted. According to Al Jazeera, at least seven Palestinians were killed in the strike, including one girl.

Gaza’s Civil Defense said its rescuers were targeted by an Israeli attack in Gaza City while they were working at the site of a previous Israeli attack. “The occupation aircraft directly bombed our crews while they were trying to retrieve the martyrs and the injured from under the rubble of a house that was bombed in the Sabra neighborhood in southern Gaza City,” said Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal, according to The Cradle.

Basal said one rescuer was killed, bringing the total number of Civil Defense workers in Gaza killed by Israel to 87. “We condemn this blatant targeting of humanitarian service providers, who are urged to be protected by the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law,” he said.

Israeli forces continued the ethnic cleansing campaign in northern Gaza, which is focused on the cities of Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia. WAFA reported an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia killed at least five Palestinians and injured 15.

The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, which has come under repeated Israeli attacks, said the hospital was still under a complete siege. “Nothing is allowed in, neither medicine, nor crews, nor food, nor ambulances nor civil defense services,” said Dr. Hussam Abu Safia in a statement released by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

“We currently have 85 injured children and women receiving minimal health care. The intensive care unit has six very critical cases,” Abu Safia said, adding that the hospital has received children suffering from malnutrition.

“Unfortunately, cases of malnutrition have begun to arrive. Since yesterday, 17 children have come to the emergency room with signs of malnutrition. Also, yesterday, an elderly man died due to severe dehydration, and the situation has become more catastrophic,” he said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the latest violence has brought its death toll to 43,985 and the number of wounded to 104,092. The figures don’t account for Palestinians missing and presumed dead under the rubble, which has previously been estimated to be over 10,000.

A group of American healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza estimated in an open letter to President Biden in October that the US-backed Israeli bombing campaign and siege have killed at least 118,908 Palestinians, including over 60,000 who have starved to death. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, who led the letter, told Antiwar.com in a recent interview that the estimate was the bare minimum they came up with by looking at the available data.