Tally of 6 days of Israeli aggression on Gaza, death toll up to 1,354
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The Israeli occupation's unparalleled aggression on the Gaza Strip has led to paramount damage to the Strip's population and infrastructure.
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A Palestinian child wounded in Israeli bombardment waits for treatment in a hospital in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, October 12, 2023 (AP)
The Israeli occupation continues to bombard residential areas and hospitals, as well as vital infrastructure in the Gaza Strip amid a stifling blockade that is putting at risk numerous vital resources, such as fuel, food, and medicine, with the health sector being seriously jeopardized by the stifling seige.
Information revealed to Al Mayadeen indicates that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is being exacerbated by the hour, with 330,000 people, 15% of Gaza's population, being displaced since the start of the aggression. This figure does not include the families moving between their families' homes, meaning this figure could be as high as 33%.
The Palestinian people, according to information obtained by Al Mayadeen, do not feel safe in UNRWA schools where they usually take shelter.
The displacement is taking place amid a stark water crisis that might cause disasters and epidemics, as well as facilitate the spread of disease.
Paramount damages
The Israeli occupation forces announced that its air force destroyed more than 22,639 homes, 10 health institutions, 48 schools, and dozens of mosques, which far exceeds all previous damages done throughout previous rounds of aggression on Gaza with a highly short time margin.
The Israeli occupation forces are gradually working to bomb government and partisan buildings, with even the homes of military personnel, politicians, and lower-ranking soldiers being targeted.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said there is a severe shortage of 44% of medicines, 32% of medical supplies, and 60% of laboratory and blood bank supplies, as well as the collapse of power generators amid a stark fuel crisis and a collapse in the Palestinian ambulance and emergency response systems.
As of the sixth day of aggression on Gaza, an average of 200 people are martyred per day, with 900 injured in the same time span, with the number of martyrs likely to rise at any moment as the health authorities continue to find more martyrs as they go into more neighborhoods and buildings.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza announced earlier in the day that the number of martyrs rose to 1,354 and the number of wounded rose to 6,049.
Gaza’s Health Ministry announced on Thursday that the Israeli occupation shutting off electricity, water, and fuel poses a “danger to the lives of the sick and wounded.”
The Ministry noted that hospitals in the Gaza Strip are at full capacity and that patients “are lying on the floor” due to the severity of the occupation's aggression, further warning that health services in Gaza are now at a critical stage.
Gaza’s Health Ministry also warned that the occupation’s continued blockade on electricity, water, and fuel will lead to serious ramifications, affecting patients who are seriously wounded and those in intensive care.
Patients may lose their lives
The cutting of electricity would also lead to the discontinuation of life-saving procedures, such as heart catheters, C-sections, and surgical interventions, not to mention 58 laboratories and blood banks being forced to shut down amid the critical need for them.
1100 renal failure patients could also lose their lives as a result, including 38 children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has already put in place measures to save fuel, including shutting off power from local generators for a few hours and directing electricity toward the more essential wards.
Gaza power plant shuts down
The single power plant in Gaza shut down on Wednesday due to a lack of fuel, according to Jalal Ismail, the director of Gaza's energy administration.
"The only power plant in the Gaza Strip stopped at 14:00 [11:00 am GMT] due to lack of fuel," Ismail remarked.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Salem al-Kailah stated that the plant's stocks had just 10-12 hours' worth of gasoline, threatening "a humanitarian catastrophe for two million people."
The fuel supply for electric generators at Palestinian medical institutions will last until Thursday, according to the Minister, after the Israeli occupation enforced an electrical blockade in response to the Palestinian Resistance's Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Israeli strikes damage 7 water facilities: OCH
Seven Gaza Stripe facilities that provided water to 1.1 million people were damaged by Israeli strikes, according to a statement released on Wednesday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"Israeli airstrikes have also damaged seven facilities that had been providing water and sanitation services to over 1,100,000 people. In some areas, sewage and solid waste are now accumulating in the streets, posing a health hazard," the OCHA said in a report.
