The Israeli air force continued to target Palestinian homes and other civilian infrastructure in Gaza on the fourth consecutive day of its assault on Monday, October 9. Over 700 Gazans, including 143 children, have been killed and over 4,000 have been wounded.
According to local media reports, Israeli warplanes targeted more than 200 locations inside Gaza on Monday alone. The targets included mosques and civilian buildings, including the headquarters of Palestinian Telecommunication Company and buildings of the Al-Shifa Medical complex.
Traces of destruction left by the #occupation warplanes after they completely destroyed the Al-Badrasawi building near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, causing partial destruction in the hospital.
آثار الدمار التي خلفتها طائرات #الاحتلال الحربية بعد أن دمرت بشكل كامل مبنى البدرساوي… pic.twitter.com/N82LU8lgKE
— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) October 10, 2023
According to the Times of Israel, Israel has targeted over 1,700 locations inside the Gaza strip since Saturday October 7, when the Palestinian resistance forces launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, leaving behind large-scale destruction.
The aftermath of the destruction caused by the #occupation’s bombing of Al-Rimal neighborhood in the central Gaza Strip, where it was targeted by more than 200 raids.
آثار الدمار الذي خلفه قصف #الاحتلال لحي الرمال وسط قطاع غزة، حيث استهدفه بأكثر من 200 غارة… pic.twitter.com/cHB2MjadBx
— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) October 10, 2023
According to the UNRWA, the total number of Palestinians displaced due to Israeli bombings inside Gaza has topped 180,000. Most of these people are living in temporary shelters inside 83 school buildings. Displaced people and those hospitalized in Gaza need urgent humanitarian support as Israel has imposed a complete blockade on food, fuel and electricity supply to Gaza since Monday.
After declaring a complete stoppage of supplies to the besieged territory, Israeli security forces issued a threat to Gazans on Monday asking them to leave and go to Egypt “while they can.”
However, there were news outlets have reported that Israeli war planes have also targeted the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has issued an urgent appeal for health workers to have access to affected areas as the existing staff and infrastructure inside Gaza are under immense strain due to the large number of casualties. It also claimed that Israel targeted ambulances carrying the wounded near Khas Younis in the early morning of Tuesday, and that one of the hospitals in the city of Beit Hanoun was destroyed in Israeli attacks during the night.
Several NGOs and groups working in the occupied territories have issued statements demanding an end to Israeli airstrikes inside the densely populated Gaza strip. Viva Salud, a group working to provide health services to Gazans through its front Al Awda Health and Community Association (AWDA), asked for an immediate ceasefire and the end of Israeli occupation.
AWDA also claimed to have lost one of its workers in the Israeli air strikes.
Israel committing multiple war crimes inside Gaza
The Israeli decision to cut basic supplies to Gaza and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s statement equating Palestinians with animals invited large-scale condemnation. The UN called the decision to stop the supplies deeply distressing. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was a form of collective punishment and a war crime under international law.
Israel’s indiscriminate bombings inside Gaza also constitute a form of collective punishment and hence a war crime.
Meanwhile, even though Israeli forces claimed to have taken control of the Gaza fence, which was breached by the Palestinian resistance on Saturday, local Israeli newspapers reported that fighting was still ongoing in different locations inside southern Israel.
Palestinian resistance forces launched fresh rocket attacks from Gaza on Tuesday after a lull of over six hours.
According to the Israeli army, the total number of Israelis killed in the fighting with the Palestinian resistance forces since Saturday reached over 900 on Monday.
The Israeli army also claimed that a couple of its senior officers were killed in the fighting against the Palestinian resistance forces. It stated that the deputy head of its 300th brigade, Elim Abdullah, was killed when Islamic Jihad forces attacked one of the occupied villages near the Lebanon border. Another Israeli commander, Yonatan Steinberg, was killed in southern Israel.
The US claimed on Monday that it has started supplying arms and ammunition to Israel, Times of Israel reported on Tuesday. The decision was also confirmed by John Kirby, spokesperson of the US National Security Council.
The supply of weapons comes a day after the US moved its warship near the Israeli border in the Mediterranean.
The US also issued a warning to Lebanese resistance force Hezbollah against joining the fight against Israel. The UAE, a close US ally that signed a normalization deal with Israel last year, also warned Syria not to interfere in the war in Gaza.
