More than 13,300 people, including more than 5,600 children and 3,550 women, have been killed by the Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip in the past 45 days. The number of injured has exceeded 31,000, 75% of whom are children and women.
On Monday, the Israeli occupation bombed the Indonesian Hospital, killing dozens of patients and refugees who were sheltering there.
Marwan Al-Sultan, the medical director of the hospital, said that the Israeli attack caused panic among the wounded and doctors, and resulted in deaths and destruction. He said that the hospital was hosting 700 injured people and more than 2,000 displaced people.
Also on Monday, the first group of premature babies who were evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza crossed to Egypt to receive treatment, after many babies died due to the collapse of medical services caused by a power outage. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that more than 20 children are expected to cross.
In addition, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that more than 100 evacuees from Gaza will arrive in Turkey on Monday, including dozens who will receive medical care there.
Koca said that 61 patients, accompanied by 49 of their relatives, arrived in Egypt from Gaza on Sunday night. They will fly to Ankara on Monday, after spending the night in Al-Arish Hospital.
The government media office in Gaza held the international community and the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the worsening humanitarian situation and the shortage of food supplies in the Gaza Strip. It accused them of agreeing to implement a policy of starvation against the Palestinian people in the Strip.
“Markets and shops are suffering from a lack of basic food items such as flour, oil, rice, and various types of canned goods, coinciding with the complete halt of bakery operations, and thus the complete disappearance of hundreds of types of food items from the market,” the office said in a statement.
The office warned of the possibility of famine and the spread of diseases and epidemics in Gaza, as the number of displaced people exceeds the capacity of the shelters, and the demand for basic relief materials that are not available increases.
It called on the Arab and Islamic countries to fulfil their responsibilities; open the Rafah border crossing permanently and supply Gaza with food and basic aid before a real humanitarian catastrophe occurs.
The Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that he was horrified by the attack on the Indonesian hospital in Gaza. He emphasized that “health workers and civilians should not be subjected to terror, especially when they are inside a hospital.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the delivery of humanitarian aid. He also urged the consideration of a two-state solution as soon as the war ended.
At the same time, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that children cannot continue to “pay the heavy price of war,” stressing that there is no ambiguity in international law in this regard.
Furthermore, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that the number of displaced people in Gaza has reached about 1.7 million people since 7 October.
