The Israeli aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip has killed more than 14,000 people, including more than 5,800 children and 3,900 women, in the past 46 days. The number of injured has surpassed 32,000, 75% of whom are children and women.
The government media office in Gaza said on Tuesday that the number of missing persons had increased to 6,800, including 4,500 children and women.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the occupation was trying to cause more casualties and deaths among the wounded, stressing that there were no health services available in the northern Gaza Strip.
He explained that they attempted to transfer some patients and wounded to the European Hospital within hours, but the loss of communication hindered the delivery of information about what happened at Al Awda Hospital.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that dozens of people were killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted the Indonesian Hospital. The Director General of Health in the Gaza Strip said that they feared that the occupation would carry out another massacre in this hospital. The Ministry confirmed that the occupation was simultaneously targeting hospitals in northern Gaza.
Atef Al-Kahlot, the director of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, said that the hospital’s situation was unbearable, as there was no treatment or medicine, and they could not provide services to the injured, stressing that they could not remove the bodies of the dead inside the hospital and that the martyrs had been lying on the ground in the hospital for two days.
Al-Kahlot explained that about 200 injured people and their companions were discharged from the hospital on Monday, adding, “We cannot perform any surgery due to the bombing that hit the hospital.”
The Regional Director of the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed Al-Mandhari, pointed out that the situation in Gaza was tragic and the health system was collapsing, especially with many specialized hospitals in Gaza stopping work.
He added: “We do not see a sincere desire to stop the killing and destruction in Gaza. The international community is not moving to stop targeting hospitals, and there are restrictions on us and we cannot reach hospitals, and performing operations is difficult due to the lack of supplies.”
Near agreement
In a related context, US President Joe Biden said that they were very close to reaching an agreement regarding detainees in the Gaza Strip. Israeli media reported that the Israeli Cabinet was meeting on Tuesday evening to approve the prisoner exchange agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
For his part, a member of the Hamas political bureau, Khalil Al-Hayya, said that they were still waiting for the Israeli occupation’s response regarding the humanitarian ceasefire agreement after Hamas delivered its response to the Egyptian and Qatari sides.
Hamas leader Izzat Al-Rishq said on Tuesday morning that the movement was “closer to announcing a ceasefire agreement in the coming hours” with Israel, considering that the agreement would be acceptable to the resistance.
Al-Rishq explained that the details of the ceasefire agreement would be revealed in the coming hours, explaining that “the brothers in Qatar are the ones who will announce the details of the ceasefire agreement.”
BRICS denounces displacement
On Tuesday, BRICS leaders held an emergency summit to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip. The leaders expressed their commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue and peaceful settlement of crises. They condemned all acts of violence against Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including war crimes.
In the final statement of the summit, the participants said that the BRICS group denounces any form of forced eviction and individual or collective expulsion of Palestinians from their land, whether into Gaza or neighboring countries. They called for an immediate and lasting humanitarian ceasefire that would end the hostilities between Palestinians and Israelis.
The BRICS leaders also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all unlawfully detained civilians. They stressed the need to reach a fair and durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through peaceful means.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said that Egypt “firmly” rejects any attempts to liquidate the Palestinian Cause, calling for the implementation of international resolutions in this regard.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the killing of thousands in the Gaza Strip, the mass displacement of residents, and the humanitarian catastrophe are a cause for concern, noting that the urgent task now is a long-term Palestinian-Israeli ceasefire. He added that during its next presidency of the BRICS, Russia will initiate contacts regarding the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “Without a just settlement of the Palestinian issue, there will be no lasting peace and stability in the Middle East,” adding that “all parties to the conflict must immediately stop fire, hostilities, and attacks on civilians.”
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel is committing mass crimes and war crimes, noting that “peace cannot be achieved in the region without radical solutions to the Palestinian issue.” Erdogan added, “We call for a just peace based on the two-state solution, and we are ready to play a role in bringing peace.”
On the ground, the Israeli occupation continued to bomb hospitals and civilian facilities in the Gaza Strip, leaving hundreds dead and wounded.
At the same time, resistance movements responded to the occupation’s aggression by launching missile attacks at Israeli cities and towns. The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced that it bombed Tel Aviv with a missile barrage “in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians.” The movement also bombed the Ra’im military base with a missile barrage.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, also announced that it had bombed the Ra’im military base with a concentrated missile attack.
