Days after attacking and killing over 115 Palestinians waiting for aid, Israeli forces once again killed and injured Palestinians in a fresh airstrike on an aid truck in Deir al-Balah on Sunday, on March 3. Several more Palestinians have been killed over the weekend across Gaza, as the Israeli genocidal war enters the 150th consecutive day in a row.
In the meanwhile, international concern for the humanitarian situation is mounting and calls are growing for an immediate ceasefire. Additionally, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, has called for sanctions on Israel, adding that it is the only way to end the ongoing war and genocide and reach a ceasefire.
Ceasefire talks are continuing in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, with Hamas officials reportedly present but no Israeli representation. Some reports have noted that “significant progress” has been made in the ongoing talks despite Israeli absence towards reaching a ceasefire agreement.
Despite increasing international condemnation and concern over its conduct in the war on Gaza, Israel continues to indiscriminately and deliberately attack and kill civilians, with reports noting dozens of airstrikes and ground bombardment over the weekend.
At least 214 Palestinian civilians were killed and 387 injured between Saturday and Monday afternoon. According to reports, the attack on the aid truck on Sunday left at least nine people dead with dozens of others injured. Airstrikes and attacks elsewhere in Gaza killed at least 10 Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp, 20 in the Southern Gazan city of Rafah, and numerous other casualties reported from attacks in Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza city, among other areas.
Hundreds have also been injured in the ongoing attacks across Gaza, with areas including Khan Younis, Beit Lahia, and Bureij refugee camp, among several other parts of Gaza being targeted by Israeli strikes. Furthermore, dozens of Palestinians have reportedly been arrested in Khan Younis, with the Israeli army claiming it has arrested around 80 Hamas and other resistance fighters.
According to the latest Palestinian health ministry statistics, the death toll in Gaza has risen to at least 30,534 Palestinians, with close to 72,000 have been injured and more than 8,000 missing, feared to be trapped under the rubble of Gaza’s destruction.
More than 70% of the casualties are women and children, with a staggering 13,430 children and 8,900 women killed since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7 of last year. The statistics also show that at least 364 health personnel have been killed, with more than 269 others, including health directors, doctors and others arrested during the duration of the war until now.
Furthermore, Israeli forces destroyed 155 medical facilities in the nearly five-month period of the war, with 32 hospitals, 53 health centers, and 126 ambulance centers rendered non-functional. The deliberate and systematic Israeli assault on the healthcare system in Gaza has made the overall dire humanitarian crisis even worse, with hundreds of injured and seriously wounded Palestinians getting delayed medical care or not getting any medical attention at all.
One such ongoing crisis is currently happening at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Northern Gaza, where at least 16 children have died as a result of malnutrition and inadequate medical care due to acute shortages of food, medicines and other medical supplies.
