Israeli Airstrikes Target Displaced Persons in Gaza
On October 8, 2023, Israeli airstrikes struck a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of 22 individuals, including 15 children and one woman, while approximately 80 others were injured. This incident has raised the number of displacement centers targeted by the Israeli occupation to 191 since October 2022. Shortly after, displaced persons were also targeted at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
According to a statement from the government media office in Gaza, the Israeli army committed a new massacre by bombing the Mufti School for displaced persons, despite knowing that the school housed thousands of children and women and had not been classified as a combat zone.
Responsibility for Ongoing Atrocities
The statement held the Israeli occupation and the U.S. administration fully responsible for the continued genocide and the ongoing massacres against civilians in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) condemned the massacre, stating it reflects Israel’s relentless and brutal extermination war against the Palestinian people, driven by a policy of intentionally targeting civilians in residential neighborhoods and shelters.
Hamas further stated that the Israeli enemy would not dare to continue its horrific massacres in Gaza or expand them in the region without the cover provided by the U.S. administration and the international community’s silence regarding these crimes. The movement called on the international community and the United Nations to assume their legal and moral responsibilities concerning these repeated crimes and to take immediate action to halt the ongoing aggression.
Attack on Displaced Persons’ Tents
Following the Nuseirat massacre, the occupation targeted tents housing displaced persons at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. The Civil Defense reported that its teams were trying to control a fire that broke out in the tents at the hospital.
The government media office in Gaza announced that three individuals were martyred, and 40 others were injured in the attack on the hospital’s displaced persons’ tents. In a press statement, the office indicated that the Israeli army had bombed the tents for the seventh consecutive time within the premises of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, resulting in a new massacre.
The Civil Defense in Gaza confirmed that the attacks on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and the Mufti School demonstrate that there is no safe place in Gaza.
Ongoing Displacement and Humanitarian Crisis
Since the onset of the war in Gaza, Palestinians have faced severe displacement hardships, as the Israeli army orders residents in various neighborhoods to evacuate in preparation for bombings and ground incursions. Displaced Palestinians often seek refuge in relatives’ homes or set up tents in streets, schools, or other facilities like prisons and amusement parks, amid dire humanitarian conditions lacking sufficient food and water, with widespread diseases.
Casualties in the North
In northern Gaza, where the Israeli army declared a blockade, operations of demolition and heavy bombardment have continued in Jabalia for ten consecutive days. An Israeli airstrike killed five children in the Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Palestinian news agencies reported that the children were playing near a café when they were struck by a drone missile.
Sources informed that numerous bodies of martyrs remain under the rubble of houses and in the streets of Jabalia. The occupation forces are destroying what remains of the infrastructure in the area, including water wells, desalination plants, and solar energy facilities.
Israeli forces have expanded their ground incursion into northern Gaza, with tanks reaching the northern outskirts of Gaza City. Residents reported that these forces bombarded several areas in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, prompting many to flee their homes.
As Israel focuses its attacks on the north, it continues to bomb other areas throughout the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported at least 11 fatalities on Sunday morning, including at least six in a house in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of casualties to over 30, excluding those from the Nuseirat massacre.
International Concerns
Joyce Msuya, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, described the situation in northern Gaza as horrifying, stating that words cannot adequately express it. She noted that Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks, forcing hospitals to evacuate patients, and that essential supplies are running low. People are being forced to leave their homes, cut off from aid, and are suffering from hunger. These atrocities must come to an end.
Palestinian and UN officials have stated that there are no safe areas in Gaza and have expressed concerns about severe shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies in the northern region, warning of the looming threat of famine. In the southern besieged region, local officials on the border reported that Israeli authorities released 12 Palestinians detained during the ground assault. Released detainees stated that they faced torture and mistreatment during their detention, allegations that Israel denies.
