The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported on Saturday that Israeli forces killed 174 people and injured 310 more in 18 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. The death toll from Israel’s aggression since 7 October has reached 26,257, while the number of wounded has risen to 64,797.
The ministry warned that some victims were still trapped under the rubble or on the roads and that Israeli forces were blocking the access of ambulance and civil defence teams to them.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday that Israeli forces had targeted Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis for the sixth consecutive day, amid ongoing shelling and shooting in the area. It added that a strict curfew was imposed around the hospital, preventing the movement of medical staff and patients.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory said that Israeli forces continued to target civilians in Gaza and commit deliberate killings and executions, especially during their massive assault on the west of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Observatory said in a statement that it had documented a horrific murder by Israeli snipers of two brothers, one of them a child, in front of their parents and relatives as they were preparing to flee their home in the Al-Amal neighbourhood, west of Khan Yunis.
It also said that it had recorded dozens of cases of arbitrary and extrajudicial executions and premeditated killings by Israeli soldiers in the invaded areas against unarmed civilians, without any military necessity or justification.
The German Foreign Minister urged Israel to immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, in response to the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued on Friday.
The ICJ called on Israel to refrain from committing any act that could amount to “genocide” in Gaza and said that Israel must take immediate measures to enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance that the Palestinians urgently require.
Meanwhile, the UK and Finland announced the suspension of their future funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Earlier on Saturday, Hamas condemned UNRWA’s termination of the contracts of some of its staff based on Israeli accusations of their involvement in the resistance attack on October 7 on the Gaza border.
On Friday, UNRWA announced the launch of an investigation into the Israeli claims, after which the US, Canada, Italy, and Australia announced the temporary suspension of their funding to the UN agency.
However, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said that his country would continue to support the Palestinian people through UNRWA. He added that the situation for the residents of Gaza was catastrophic and that UNRWA was the most vital humanitarian organization in the strip.
On the ground, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, announced that it bombed with a missile barrage and mortar shells the supply line and the movement of Israeli army vehicles east of the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip.
The Brigades said that it had targeted an Israeli tank and a troop carrier west of the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. It also confirmed its fighters were engaged in violent clashes with the occupation forces penetrating the city. The Al-Quds Brigades fighters also targeted an Israeli Merkava tank and a troop carrier with RPG shells, west of the city of Khan Yunis.
In addition, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, also announced that an Israeli Merkava tank was targeted with an Al-Yassin 105 shell in the city of Khan Yunis.
