At 7 am sharp Gaza time, a four-day humanitarian truce kicked in. Until the last minute, however, Israel continued to kill Palestinians. Below are the shocking numbers behind Israel’s war on Gaza.
Death Toll
The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s latest on the Gaza Strip has soared to 14,854, the government media office in the blockaded enclave said on Thursday, a few hours before a four-day humanitarian truce came into effect.
“The victims include 6,150 children and over 4,000 women, while more than 36,000 people have been injured,” the media office said in a statement, adding that 7,000 people remain unaccounted for, including more than 4,700 children.
Palestinians bid farewell to their beloved ones, who were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza soon before the ceasefire kicked in.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 24, 2023
Holy Sites
According to figures provided by the government media office in Gaza, the Israeli attacks also left 88 mosques destroyed, 174 others partially damaged, and three churches were targeted.
Schools
Israeli airstrikes have indiscriminately hit schools, hospitals, and ambulances in Gaza, resulting in a high number of civilian casualties.
According to figures provided by Human Rights Watch, at least 300 schools have been damaged and 183 teachers killed.
WAR CHILDREN ORGANIZATION: The War Children organization said that a 4-day ceasefire is not enough for relief agencies to reach 1.1 million children in Gaza in urgent need of assistance.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 24, 2023
Journalists
According to figures provided by the Geneva-based rights organization Euro-Med Monitor, 140 press headquarters were destroyed or damaged by Israel since the beginning of the war.
At least 62 journalists were also killed by Israeli airstrikes, the organization noted.
Medical Facilities
Medical facilities have been one of the main targets of Israel’s latest aggression on Gaza.
The World Health Organization has reported that “at least 553 people have been killed in 178 attacks on medical facilities in Gaza between October 7 and November 21, and that the majority of hospitals in Gaza are no longer functional.”
For its part, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that “Out of 24 hospitals operating in the north prior to the war, 22 are either out of service or unable to admit new patients” and that “of the 11 medical facilities in the south, eight are currently functional.”
OCHA stated that “the bed capacity across Gaza has declined from 3,500 prior to the war to 1,400 presently, amid a surge in those seeking treatment.”
Citing the WHO, OCHA also reported that “only one of the currently functional hospitals has the capacity to treat critical trauma cases or perform complex surgery”.
At 7 am sharp Gaza time, a four-day humanitarian truce kicked in. Until the last minute, however, Israel continued to kill Palestinians, from Khan Yunis to Nuseirat to the Indonesian Hospital.https://t.co/aia84y6jBP pic.twitter.com/ls027vKuJB
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 24, 2023
Housing Units and Forced Displacement
According to OCHA, more than 45% of Gaza’s housing units are either destroyed or severely damaged.
Euro-Med Monitor estimated that the number of completely destroyed units amounts to 59,240. The number of partially destroyed houses amounts to 165,300, according to the group.
The destruction of homes and issuance of forced displacement orders by Israeli authorities have led to the internal displacement of 1.7 million people – more than 70% of Gaza’s population.
Palestinian youths raise the Palestinian flag over the rubble of their destroyed home in Gaza.
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— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 24, 2023
White Phosphorous Strikes
According to the Geneva-based rights organization Euro-Med Monitor, as of November 16, Israel had carried out more than 1,000 white phosphorous strikes in Gaza.
“Using shells containing internationally banned white phosphorus, the Israeli army has launched more than a thousand artillery strikes on densely populated areas since the start of its bloody war on the Gaza Strip on 7 October,” the organization said in a statement.
The statement also highlighted that “white phosphorus use is forbidden by international law, and should never be directed towards or close to populated residential areas or civilian infrastructure.”
A four-day humanitarian truce, subject to extension, came into effect in the Gaza Strip at 7 am local time this morning. https://t.co/uzFLCqrEAk pic.twitter.com/IGYrE2YeQ3
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 24, 2023
Tons of Explosive
According to Euro-Med Monitor, as of November 2, Israel had dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.
“The weight of the nuclear bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at the end of World War II in August 1945 was estimated at about 15,000 tons of explosives,” the organization said in a statement, adding that:
“Due to technological developments affecting the potency of bombs, the explosives dropped on Gaza may be twice as powerful as a nuclear bomb. This means that the destructive power of the explosives dropped on Gaza exceeds that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima”.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
