Israel maintained its bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Thursday despite growing international calls to reduce civilian casualties from its bombings as a surge of deadly diseases plagues displaced residents.
Israel says its attacks on Gaza are aimed at annihilating Hamas, the group whose fighters stormed through the border fence from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking 240 hostages.
Israel has since razed much of the Palestinian enclave.
At least 18,608 people have been killed and 50,594 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The vast majority of the population of 2.3 million has fled their homes and many of them are sleeping on the streets, leaving them vulnerable to disease.
At the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the trauma ward was overcrowded with wounded, there were also several sick babies crammed into a bed in the children’s ward.
A woman from the Palestinian Ashour family holds the body of a baby as others mourn on December 14, 2023 at Najar hospital in Rafah. AFP via Getty Images
“Several patients present with cases of extreme dehydration, some of which can reach the point of kidney failure or weakening kidney function,” said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, head of pediatrics.
Up to 30 cases of hepatitis A have already been recorded, which takes up to a month to incubate, he said.
“So after a month there will be an explosion in the number of hepatitis A cases, and this is a very dangerous indicator that must be paid attention to, from overcrowding and consumption of food not suitable for human consumption to the use of shared bathrooms,” he said. saying.
Smoke rises between buildings after Israeli attacks on houses in Khan Yunis December 14, 2023. REUTERS People cry as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in an airstrike December 14, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Loop. fake images
The coastal strip is now facing a public health disaster due to the collapse of its health system and the spread of diseases, the UN humanitarian office said.
“We have a textbook formula for epidemics and public health disasters,” said Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In central Rafah, south of the coastal enclave, 24 people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit two houses, Hamas media said early Thursday.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on December 14, 2023. via REUTERS Israeli military vehicles operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in December September 14, 2023. via REUTERS
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There was no immediate confirmation from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is visiting the region and will be in Israel on Thursday and Friday, will discuss with the Israelis the need to be more precise in their strikes against Hamas targets, he told reporters. reporters spokesman John Kirby.
Nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions Israel has used in Gaza in its war with Hamas since October 7 have been unguided, also known as “dumb bombs,” according to a US intelligence assessment reported by CNN.
Palestinians rescue belongings after an Israeli attack on residential buildings in Rafah, Gaza Strip, December 14, 2023. AP Palestinians collect items from the site of Israeli attacks on houses in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on December 14. 2023. REUTERS
About 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions Israel has used have been unguided and the rest have been precision-guided munitions, according to the CNN report.
TANK TANK ATTACK
Fears persist that the conflict will spread in a volatile region.
An oil tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen was attacked by gunmen in a speedboat and attacked with missiles, maritime sources said on Wednesday.
It is the latest incident to threaten the vital sea route after Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi forces warned ships not to travel to Israel.
Palestinians check the damage following the Israeli bombing in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on December 14, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
The cost of the war between Israel and Hamas to neighboring Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan in terms of lost GDP could reach $10.3 billion or 2.3%, and could double if the conflict lasts six more months, according to a report. study commissioned by the UN Development Programme. .
The Biden administration is delaying the sale to Israel of more than 20,000 American-made rifles over concerns about increasing attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Some 271 Palestinians have been killed this year by Israeli security forces, including 69 children, in the occupied West Bank, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said.
People cry as they collect the bodies of Palestinians killed in an airstrike on December 14, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. fake images
At least 288 displaced people in shelters run by the agency have been killed in Gaza since October 7, the agency added in a post on X.
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The number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground offensive reached 115 and more than 600 wounded, according to an Israeli military website.
“Their heroism, and that of those who unfortunately fell and we were unable to bring them to this state of rehabilitation, are the light that repels the darkness, and in this room there is so much light,” said Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, head of Israel’s army. . Staff, he told wounded soldiers during a ceremony for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Ramat Gan.
PROTESTS, VIGILS
Some Biden administration staffers held a vigil outside the White House late Wednesday to call on Washington to support a ceasefire in Gaza.
The group of about 60 people carried a banner that read: “President Biden, your staff demands a ceasefire.”
“We were horrified by the brutal October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians, and we are horrified by the disproportionate response of the Israeli government, which has indiscriminately killed thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza and displaced more than a million more,” said the protesters in a statement read by Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned a few weeks ago.
A demonstration was held in New York demanding the release of the remaining 135 hostages held in Gaza.
Most Israelis say the army should not back down from its relentless offensive to crush Hamas.
“It’s horrible. It’s horrible that there are so many civilian casualties,” said Adam Saville, a Jerusalem resident. “But this is war, and that’s what happens in war.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn