Hospital sources confirm 27 killed in Gaza since dawn, as a UN official warns that famine has been declared and Oxfam urges accountability.
At least 27 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces since dawn today, including 11 aid seekers and 16 others in Gaza City, Al-Jazeera reported, citing medical sources.
At the same time, a senior UN official confirmed that famine has now been declared in the besieged enclave.
Medical staff said four people were killed in Israeli raids on homes in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.
Hundreds of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza as UNRWA Warns of ‘Catastrophic Situation’
The Nasser Medical Complex reported that Israeli fire near an aid distribution center north of Rafah left one person dead and several others injured.
In central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital confirmed that six Palestinians waiting for food aid were killed by Israeli gunfire, while additional casualties were reported.
Hospitals also documented several other deadly attacks. Six people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City. Another strike on the Al-Shati camp killed two civilians and wounded several children. Al-Awda Hospital also received the bodies of four Palestinians killed in an Israeli bombardment of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Civil Defense in northern Gaza reported rescuing a young girl alive from beneath the rubble of a bombed home in the Al-Shati camp, while two more bodies were recovered, and others remain missing.
Meanwhile, Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme, told Al-Jazeera that famine has now been confirmed in Gaza, with children dying of hunger in worsening conditions as winter approaches.
Gaza Flotilla Activists Call for Pressure on Israel over Threats to Mission
The director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, warned that the hospital could be forced to shut down entirely if the Israeli army follows through with threats to storm the facility.
He said many of the injured and sick had already left in anticipation of such an attack. The hospital has previously been bombed and raided multiple times.
In a separate statement, the British NGO Oxfam urged that Israel be held accountable for the killing of nearly 1,600 humanitarian and medical workers since the start of the war.
The organization condemned Israel’s destruction of hospitals, clinics, and three Oxfam partner offices this week, calling such acts “absurd and barbaric.”
Ongoing Genocide
Since reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, Israel has continued its bloody aerial bombardment across the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding thousands of Palestinians.
Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 65,500 Palestinians, with more than 167,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.
In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.
Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
(PC, AJA)
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