A HOSPITAL is supposed to be one of the safest places to go to amid armed conflict, like the war Israel is waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, there is strong evidence that Israeli forces are deliberately killing civilians, including women, children and journalists, in and around hospitals.
On Aug. 25, Israeli forces twice attacked Nasser Hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, killing at least 20 people. They include five Palestinian journalists, including an Al Jazeera reporter, who were sheltering in and reporting from the hospital.
The attack triggered widespread condemnation, with Al Jazeera saying Israel was systematically “assassinating journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth.” The five killed are now among the over 240 journalists slain in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel called the deadly attack a “tragic mishap,” and they would investigate. Israeli officials say they take all “feasible” precautions to avoid civilian casualties, and accuse Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
This is not just about the brutal murder of those reporters, but part of the ongoing crimes against humanity that Israel has been accused of committing. Besides relentless bombings, shooting starving civilians as they try to get much-needed food supplies is another weapon of war used by Israel.
As of last Tuesday, the number of dead from the famine in Gaza rose to over 300, of which 117 were children; the toll should have risen as of this writing.
This famine is manmade, United Nations officials have said. Now, the Israeli military has launched a new offensive against Gaza City in the territory’s north, forcing thousands to flee south and evacuate the Ad Daraj and Ash Sheikh Radwan areas.
Since Israel’s new military incursion into Gaza City, as many as 36,200 Palestinians were forced again to flee to save themselves and their children. The delivery of food and aid into Gaza has been mostly blocked, causing acute shortages not only of food but also of medicines.
Blood supply is lacking, and the number of wounded is increasing, and hospitals need more than 350 units of it every day. But there are fewer blood donors, as the UN-declared famine is increasingly weakening Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinian population.
The United Nations (UN) reported that only six out of its 12 missions were allowed into Gaza as of last week. Thousands of aid trucks are being blocked by Israel from entering Gaza.
The UN is demanding an immediate ceasefire and “full, unhindered humanitarian access.” The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that the consequences of “ongoing hostilities, displacement and aid obstruction are even more devastating.” (To be continued)/PN
