World watches in silence as Gaza bleeds under relentless bombardment

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
8 May 2025 22:45

Over 100 Palestinians were killed in 24 hours as Israeli strikes hit homes, camps, and public sites across Gaza amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe.

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Layan Ibrahim Sahloul, 4, sits despondently among her dolls at Nasser hospital with second-degree burns on her face, foot, and stomach, caused a week earlier during an Israeli strike on her home in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 4, 2025. (AP)

The death toll in Gaza continues to climb rapidly as "Israel" escalates its aggression across the besieged Strip. At least 106 Palestinians were killed and 367 wounded in 24 hours alone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Since October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinians killed has now surpassed 52,760, with more than 119,000 injured.

Concurrently, civil defence teams reported that many victims remain trapped beneath the rubble or stranded in areas inaccessible due to continuous bombardments.

The latest wave of attacks has devastated heavily populated civilian areas and shelters. In central Gaza, Israeli occupation forces shelled the vicinity of al-Shuhada Mosque in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing two Palestinians, including a young girl, and injuring at least 30 others, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

Southern, northern Gaza hit by intense airstrikes

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that a nearby drone strike targeted a commercial site, killing four more Palestinians and wounding several others.

In Khan Younis, warplanes carried out multiple air raids on the Qdeih neighbourhood in Aabasan al-Kabira. A targeted strike on a motorcycle killed one man and injured two others, as per our correspondent. Artillery fire and gunshots were reported throughout the area, including direct hits on makeshift tents housing displaced families. One child was confirmed killed in the Israeli attack.

Further south in Rafah, residential buildings continued to be destroyed, worsening the displacement crisis. In northern Gaza, three people were killed in an airstrike on a home in Beit Hanoun, while in Beit Lahia, a drone strike on a house near Tal al-Rabee School killed five.

Meanwhile, Gaza City saw renewed Israeli bombing as Israeli occupation forces struck the al-Shati refugee camp. The al-Shujaiya and al-Zaytoun neighbourhoods were also hit by artillery and live fire, as per our correspondent.

Humanitarian crisis deepens amid stalled ceasefire talks

Since 18 March 2025, Gaza’s health authorities have recorded 2,651 Palestinians killed and 7,223 others injured, underscoring the enduring scale of devastation. Despite growing international concern, ceasefire negotiations remain stalled, and fears of regional spillover continue to grow.

Humanitarian agencies have warned that the situation in Gaza is nearing total collapse.

“This is hunger as never seen before,” said a UNRWA staff member in a recent dispatch from Gaza. “The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, and the ceasefire must resume.”

“This is hunger as never seen before,” an UNRWA team member in #Gaza describes the current situation.

Gaza has become a land of desperation.

The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the #CeasefireNow must resume. pic.twitter.com/fziVoa80ns
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 8, 2025

International legal pressure on "Israel" is mounting. Despite this, "Israel" continues to pursue a scorched-earth policy across Gaza, with scenes of displacement, rubble, and starvation increasingly defining the daily reality for its nearly 2 million besieged residents.

Rafah levelled: IOF flattened 80% of Southern Gaza City

Rafah, once a crowded haven for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, now lies in ruins. New satellite imagery published by Israeli Channel 12 reveals that nearly 80% of the city’s buildings have been obliterated by the Israeli military in what appears to be one of the most intense and destructive campaigns of the eight-month war.

The images, analyzed by the Geographic Information Systems Centre at the Hebrew University, underscore what observers have described as the near-total erasure of urban Rafah. The remaining 20% of structures, according to the report, are confined to the city's northern fringe.

This revelation follows Sunday’s approval by "Israel’s" Security Cabinet of an expanded war strategy, code-named “Gideon’s Chariots". The plan reportedly outlines long-term Israeli military control over Gaza, mass displacement of civilians, and the seizure of humanitarian aid systems, a vision that Israeli officials say will bring security but which international legal experts warn could amount to war crimes or ethnic cleansing.

“Thousands of homes have been destroyed,” Channel 12 stated, with particular devastation along the Philadelphi Corridor near the Egyptian border, a zone previously designated as a buffer. Other areas of Gaza, including Jabalia and Khan Younis, have reportedly suffered comparable levels of destruction.