The Government Information Office in Gaza reported that the Israeli army had killed 11,320 people, including more than 4,000 children, since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The media office reported on Tuesday that 42,000 housing units were demolished and 223,000 units were partially damaged by the Israeli attacks. It also said that 25 hospitals and 52 health centres were out of service as a result of the Israeli aggression.
Moreover, Israel killed 202 health personnel and 36 civil defence personnel, in addition to wounding more than 200 health personnel. More than 60 ambulances were attacked, 55 of which were damaged and put out of service.
Ashraf Al-Qudra, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that many bodies need to be buried, but Israel prevents any movement inside the Al-Shifa Medical Complex. “We lost 40 patients in the besieged Al-Shifa Complex for the fifth day in a row.”
For his part, the Director General of the Government Media Office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, said that the situation in the Gaza Strip is tragic as a result of the occupation’s massacres. He added: “The Gaza Strip is exposed to a genocide. Al-Shifa Medical Complex has been targeted more than 8 consecutive times.”
Al-Thawabta pointed out that more than 150 bodies were not allowed to be buried outside the Al-Shifa Complex, and 55 ambulances were directly targeted, as were medical teams.
According to the spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza, Khalil Al-Dakran, the lack of resources forced doctors to amputate the limbs of some of the injured, due to their inability to perform surgical operations.
He added, according to Palestinian media, that many injured people died as a result of bleeding and the inability to provide them with medical services. He pointed out that 25 martyrs arrived at the hospital today, Tuesday, including 3 children who arrived in pieces.
The Palestinian resistance factions announced on Tuesday that they inflicted heavy losses on the Israeli occupation forces in the ground incursions into the Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that its fighters killed 9 Israeli soldiers and destroyed or damaged 22 tanks and vehicles in various areas of the Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades also said that they used the “Rajum” missile system to target a gathering of Israeli soldiers south of Gaza City and launched a missile attack on the Ra’im military base.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, said that its fighters clashed with the Israeli forces that penetrated west of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. The Al-Quds Brigades added that they fired mortar shells at the enemy soldiers and vehicles in the southwestern Gaza axis.
In another context, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the statements of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, saying, “We condemn the racist statements of the fascist Smotrich, which belittle the international position rejecting the displacement of the Palestinians.”
The ministry explained in a statement that the Israeli minister’s use of the concept of involuntary migration of residents of the Gaza Strip “is throwing dust in the eyes and a continuation of the slander and lying campaigns against the international community.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry stressed that the correct solution is to “stop the genocide that Smotrich and his likes are waging against our people, and end the suffering of the Palestinian people through urgent and real international intervention.”
Moreover, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said that Israel must realize that there is no “blank check” even in times of war. He warned Israel of the consequences of not making concrete efforts to deliver food and medicine to civilians. He also expressed his deep concern about the increase in settler attacks in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, a US official told CNN that Hamas and Israel are close to reaching an agreement to release detainees in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a temporary truce. However, the official said that the talks are “volatile” and could collapse at any moment. A European official also told CNN that there is optimism that some of the detainees held by Hamas could be released within days or weeks. An Israeli official confirmed that negotiations regarding the detainees are ongoing with the mediation of Qatar, US intelligence, and Israel’s Mossad.
The Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad, Ziad Al-Nakhalah, said that they would not give up their prisoners easily and that they would demand better conditions for their release. He also said that “the way of negotiations regarding the prisoners and the enemy’s reactions may push us to be outside the deal.”
The Islamic Jihad condemned the US administration’s decision to impose sanctions on some of its leaders and an institution that provides aid to the wounded and prisoners. The movement said that this decision was “a continuation of siding with the occupation” and “evidence of the American blockade imposed on our people.”
On Tuesday, the US State Department announced the designation of Akram Al-Ajouri as a global terrorist. Al-Ajouri is a leader of the Islamic Jihad and is accused of receiving training and financial support from Iran.
