Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed 16 people on Wednesday as forces stepped up operations in northern areas of the enclave. Amid relentless bombardments, medics and local sources reported that hospitals and refugee shelters had come under siege, with residents ordered to move southward.
These serious bombardments and limited access are why the health ministry in Gaza and the World Health Organization announced the postponement of the planned polio vaccination campaign in the north of the Gaza Strip. The military operations by Israel began three weeks ago to prevent Hamas from reorganizing. It increased after last Wednesday’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar.
Reports said that Israeli forces have laid a siege on Jabalia refugee shelters, which have displaced its residents and detained hundreds of males. At least 650 people have been killed since the beginning of the offensive.
Medics reported on Wednesday that two Palestinians were killed in Beit Lahiya, while an air attack in Gaza City killed 12, among them four municipal workers. Others were killed in Deir Al-Balah, where two more Palestinians died.
The acute shortage of medical supplies has made hospitals in northern Gaza barely functional. The health facilities, which refuse to comply with Israel’s orders to evacuate, are running out of blood supplies and coffins. This is a desperate appeal issued by the Gaza health ministry for shrouds for the dead: “We call on the world to send shrouds.”
The UN Relief and Works Agency has called for a temporary truce to allow evacuations as health officials report dwindling supplies for treating injuries. While claims of several instances of aid deliveries have been made, many Gaza medics insist supplies have not reached the needy; the general death toll in Gaza is about to reach 43,000 with continued conflict.
