The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that the death toll from the Israeli assault on the Strip had reached 30,320, with 71,533 wounded. It added that some victims remained trapped under the rubble and on the roads, as the occupation forces continued to block the access of ambulance and civil defense teams to them.
It also said that the occupation had carried out 10 massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip, killing 92 and injuring 156 in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent warned that one out of every six children in the northern Gaza Strip was suffering from acute malnutrition and that the lives of thousands of people with chronic diseases were at risk. It urged the international community to act immediately to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Strip.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom, said on Saturday that the extent of destruction around Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, which was under a brutal Israeli attack, was beyond words. He posted on the “X” platform that the WHO and its partners had managed to reach Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza and deliver 19,000 liters of fuel after more than a month.
Adhanom said that the organization had treated 50 children with severe malnutrition, and provided life-saving medical supplies to 150 patients.
In a related development, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, condemned the Israeli soldiers’ shooting of civilians who were trying to get food in Gaza. He called for an independent international investigation into the incident that claimed the lives of more than 100 civilians who were seeking food in Gaza.
“Israel must respect international law and ensure the delivery of aid to the people of Gaza. An immediate humanitarian ceasefire leading to a lasting cessation of hostilities is necessary to provide aid and protect civilians in Gaza. We call on the UN Security Council to demand an urgent end to the fighting and to emphasize the need to allow the arrival of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” Borrell said.
US President Joe Biden, whose country is the main ally of Israel, said that his country would intensify its efforts to open a sea route and increase aid shipments to Gaza by land. He also said that the United States would conduct air drops of aid in the coming days.
He added: “As for reaching a ceasefire agreement by Ramadan: I hope that this will happen and we are working hard to make it happen, but we have not achieved it yet.”
On the ground, the “Al-Quds Brigades”, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, announced that it had shot down a “Hermes 900” drone with a “SAM 7” anti-aircraft missile in the skies of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, in coordination with the “Mujahideen Brigades”.
