Gaza Reels from Deadly Israeli Strikes, UN Pleads for Action.
In a shocking display of violence, Israel has unleashed a barrage of deadly attacks on the besieged Gaza Strip, killing around 50 Palestinians within the span of just 24 hours.
The relentless assaults have prompted an impassioned plea from the United Nations, urging the world not to become “numb” to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
According to eyewitness reports, the Israeli military launched a wave of strikes on the so-called “safe zone” of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, setting refugee tents ablaze in a drone attack that claimed the lives of seven people.
The attacks did not spare even the most vulnerable, as the military targeted a school housing displaced people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing one person. In a separate incident, four more people were killed in an area north of the camp.
The relentless bombardment capped off a bloody 24-hour period in the enclave, with medical sources confirming that a total of 50 Palestinians had been killed since early Sunday. This decision has put the lives of around 400 civilians, including babies in incubators, at grave risk.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli forces had been specifically targeting the hospital’s women’s, maternity, and neonatal wards with bombs, artillery shells, and sniper fire, resulting in the deaths of three civilians.
Hussam Abu Safia, the head of the hospital, expressed his utter distress at the military’s directive, stating that obeying the order to shut down was “next to impossible” due to the lack of available ambulances to transport patients.
Reporting from the central Gaza region, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud painted a harrowing picture of the situation, stating, “We are in a situation right now where a marked evacuation zone is not safe for displaced people, not the evacuation zone in al-Mawasi, not schools, not shelters, not even hospitals.”
Mahmoud further lamented the repeated attacks on these designated safe havens, saying, “What we’re seeing right now is highlighting the vulnerability of really … traumatized, displaced civilians in these areas.”
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been compounded by the severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on aid delivery. Charity Oxfam revealed that over the past two and a half months, only 12 aid trucks have been allowed to enter the northern region of the enclave, out of the meager 34 trucks that were granted permission.
Amidst the escalating violence, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, issued a dire warning, stating that there had been an “escalation” in Israel’s war on Gaza over the past 24 hours. In a social media post, Lazzarini reiterated his calls for a ceasefire, urging the world not to become “numb” to the unfolding tragedy.
The world now stands at a crossroads, faced with the choice of heeding the UN’s call to prevent the normalization of such devastating violence, or risk becoming complicit in the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
