'Israel' pursues aggression on Gaza despite al-Ahli Hospital massacre

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
18 Oct 2023 05:57
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As part of its ongoing aggression, the Israeli occupation continues to target residential areas in the Gaza Strip.

Wounded Palestinians sit in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, after arriving from al-Ahli hospital following a deadly Israeli strike there, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP/Abed Khaled)

Israeli occupation warplanes continue to bombard various areas in the Gaza Strip for 12 consecutive days, amid water, electricity, and food shortages, and a collapse in the medical sector.

This comes as at least 500 people were martyred in an Israeli airstrike on al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, according to the Ministry of Health, in a new massacre committed by the Israeli occupation, amid widespread international and Arab condemnations.

The Israeli occupation deliberately bombed Al-Maamadani Hospital in the #Gaza Strip with the death toll expected to reach over 800 #Palestinians.#GazaUnderAttack #المستشفى_المعمداني pic.twitter.com/73mHZsgBBX
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 17, 2023

In the eastern part of Gaza City, Israeli artillery units fired dozens of shells toward al-Zeitoun neighborhood.

In the center of Gaza City, the occupation launched a direct airstrike on the Nuseirat Bakery while workers were inside. The Israeli occupation also conducted heavy attacks in the city center.

In the northern part of the Strip, the Israeli occupation conducted an airstrike on the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

In the western part of Gaza, a number of people were killed in the shelling that targeted a residential apartment near the Tumraz station in southern Gaza.

Additionally, the occupation targeted a home belonging to al-Jazzar family in southern Gaza, resulting in three deaths, 12 injuries, and several others missing under the rubble.

In a related context, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qidra, said al-Ahli Hospital massacre was "unprecedented and indescribable."

Al-Qidra highlighted that the massacre resulted in hundreds of victims, adding that ambulance crews are still collecting body parts.

The official noted that most of the victims of the massacre were children and women and that the majority of the victims' bodies were dismembered and decapitated.

A father carries the body parts of his children in bags after the brutal Israeli massacre on the #BaptistHospital in #Gaza.#PalestineGenocide #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/NSZYqDcEVE
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 17, 2023

He also pointed out that the huge number of victims and the nature of the injuries exceeded the capabilities of medical teams and ambulances, revealing that doctors were performing surgeries on the ground, in corridors, and some without anesthesia.

Al-Qidra said a large number of victims are waiting to undergo surgeries, and medical teams are trying to save the remaining others' lives in intensive care units.

He warned that the remaining medical treatment capabilities have only a few hours left before they are fully depleted.

No safe place in Gaza

Iyad al-Bazm, the spokesperson for the Interior and National Security Ministry, stated that the Israeli occupation killed the families who sought refuge at al-Ahli Hospital. He made it clear that the United States is a partner in the horrific massacre.

Al-Bazm said, "There is no safe place in the entire Gaza Strip, and the occupation is shelling everywhere," appealing to the people of the world to stop the US-American aggression on Gaza.

He underlined that the Interior and National Security Ministry personnel will not surrender and will continue performing their duty on the ground, urging countries to call for an end to the aggression on Gaza.

On his part, Salama Maarouf, the head of the government media office, urged Gazans to actively participate in the funerals of the martyrs of al-Ahli Hospital massacre on Wednesday morning to send a clear message to the Israeli occupation that the Palestinian people shall not forgive this crime and will not allow the occupation's plans for forced displacement to succeed.

Maarouf called on the Arab and Islamic peoples and the free people of the world to stage angry rallies against the massacre and to hold symbolic funerals for the martyrs.

It is noteworthy that several areas in the occupied West Bank witnessed shooting operations and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces following angry protests that erupted following the al-Ahli Hospital massacre.

Prior to the massacre, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the number of martyrs from the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip had exceeded 3,000, in addition to more than 12,500 injuries since Saturday, October 7.