Following Israel’s total blockade of Gaza in response to a surprise onslaught by Hamas, a humanitarian crisis is rapidly developing in Gaza, where stranded civilians are experiencing a shortage of basic necessities and the death toll from the fighting has surpassed 2,000.
Since the full closure of the besieged region was imposed, the Gaza Strip has been the focus of airstrikes. Overnight, Israeli military fighter jets attacked more than 200 sites in a neighbourhood of Gaza City that was allegedly utilised by Hamas to conduct an unprecedented wave of attacks.
In an impassioned speech, US President Joe Biden declared unequivocal support for Israel, but failed to directly reference Palestinians living in the besieged enclave of Gaza.
🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/YSz706VHD9 pic.twitter.com/0Jmeio78PW
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 10, 2023
“No electricity, no food, no water, no gas.”
Israel’s decision to impose a total blockade on the Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million Palestinians, has been condemned as a war crime against a civilian population ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/NzC6vsy06X
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 10, 2023
The Israeli army ministry claimed it cut off supplies of electricity, food, water, and gasoline to the enclave during the “complete siege” of the region.
The majority of the targets, according to the Palestinian interior ministry, were “towers, residential buildings, civil and service facilities, and many mosques.” Hamas denied using any of the towers that were being attacked.
At least 900 people have been killed and 4,600 injured in the congested coastal enclave of Gaza, according to the health ministry.
In the bloodiest Palestinian attack on Israel in its history, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip rampaged over portions of southern Israel on Saturday.
Kan, an Israeli national television, said that 1,200 people had died over the weekend.
Dozens of Israelis and other foreigners were kidnapped and carried as hostages to Gaza; some of these hostages were paraded through the streets and posted on social media.
According to Hamas, the strike was in retaliation for Israeli abuses at the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem as well as an uptick in settler violence.
‘White phosphorus bombs’
Wednesday marked the start of the fifth day of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and Palestine has accused Israel of firing white phosphorus bombs against residents of the Karama neighbourhood in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said on X, formerly Twitter, “The Israeli occupation is using internationally outlawed white phosphorus bombs against the Palestinians in the Karama neighbourhood in northern Gaza.”
Israeli warplanes and artillery use internationally #prohibited_white_phosphorus, destroying #Al_Karama neighborhood in the northwest of Gaza City with a continuous series of airstrikes. There are casualties and wounded, while ambulances and civil defense vehicles are unable to… pic.twitter.com/ym7zfKqIBH
— State of Palestine – MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) October 10, 2023
The founder of the European Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdo, shared a video clip of what he claimed to be Israel using phosphorus bombs on the X platform.
In the northwest of Gaza City, “Israeli military forces are using toxic white phosphorus [bombs] on densely populated areas,” he said.
According to Anadolu, the New York-based human rights organisation Human Rights Watch had previously identified information on Israel’s use of white phosphorus bombs in Gaza during preceding battles.
Although it is lawful to deploy white phosphorous weapons to create a haze and conceal unit movements, the 1980 Geneva Convention restricts their use in crowded areas.
⚡️The regime is using what looks like Phosphorus munitions on civilian areas in Gaza pic.twitter.com/6N4d3Arjkh
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) October 10, 2023
Israel made no response to the assertion.
The Israeli military claimed that throughout the course of the night, several of its fighter jets attacked more than 200 targets in a part of Gaza City that it claimed Hamas had used to conduct its unprecedented wave of attacks.
At least 900 people have been killed and 4,600 injured in the congested coastal enclave of Gaza, according to the health ministry.
In the bloodiest Palestinian attack on Israel in its history, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip rampaged over portions of southern Israel on Saturday.
1,200 people have died in Israel, according to an Israeli military official.
Most of the casualties were civilians who were shot dead in their houses, on the streets, or while dancing outside. Numerous Israelis and people from other countries were held captive and transferred to Gaza; some of these people were seen being paraded around the streets on social media.
According to Hamas, the strike was in retaliation for Israeli abuses at the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem as well as an uptick in settler violence.
EU opposes complete siege
Israel completely shut off Gaza’s access to water, food, electricity, and other necessities on Monday after years of blockading the territory.
The foreign ministers of the European Union urged Israel not to cut off such necessities and advocated for humanitarian escape routes.
International humanitarian law forbids such sieges, according to Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief.
According to Mohammed Ghonim, a physician working in the emergency room, the overburdened Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza was running low on medical supplies, including oxygen.
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