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SvennoJ on 20 May 2024
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Israeli soldiers supported settlers who attacked West Bank village of Yatma: Report

A Palestinian official told the Wafa agency that the Israeli settlers who set fire to farmland and a scrapyard in the West Bank village of Yatma did so “under the protection of Israeli occupation forces”.

Ahmed Sanobar, the head of the Yatma village council, also told Wafa that hundreds of settlers were involved in the attack and that Palestinians confronted the assailants and managed to extinguish the fires.

“Confrontations ensued between the residents and the attacking colonists, supported by Israeli soldiers who fired live ammunition and tear gas canisters at the former,” Wafa reported.

The agency said there were no reported injuries from the attack.

UN unable to monitor entry of aid into Gaza since May 6

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says it has not been able to maintain a presence at the Rafah and Karen Abu Salem (known as Kerem Shalom to the Israelis) crossings into Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive on Rafah city, and is unable to monitor the entry of aid trucks into the region.

UNRWA previously provided daily reports on the total number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip through these crossings – the vast majority of which were humanitarian deliveries from the UN, the Palestine Red Crescent and other aid organisations.

UNRWA said now, it can only track UN trucks that enter southern Gaza. The agency’s latest figures show only 69 such trucks have crossed into southern Gaza between May 6 to May 19, an average of fewer than five trucks per day.

This is significantly less than the average of 87 UN humanitarian trucks that entered Gaza through the two crossings per day in April.



Exactly how Israel likes it. Already proven to count only half filled trucks for inspection, now they can mess with the numbers without anyone being able to check up on them. Anyway the humanitarian situation on the ground says enough about aid not getting where its needed.

Another hospital under siege

What’s the situation at al-Awda Hospital?

Here’s what you need to know about the ongoing Israeli siege at al-Awda Hospital, one of the last functional hospitals in northern Gaza.

  • The Wafa news agency, citing medical sources, said Israeli forces fired artillery shells at the hospital before surrounding the facility on Sunday.
  • The agency said Israeli forces also bulldozed areas in the vicinity of the hospital.
  • It added that the ongoing siege is preventing civilians and medical staff from entering or leaving the facility.
  • MSF said the hospital is treating at least 34 people who were wounded in an Israeli strike on the nearby Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday, and that it has now run out of drinking water.

Timeline of major Israeli attacks on Gaza’s hospitals

The ongoing siege on Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on health services in the Palestinian territory. The World Health Organization has documented 445 Israeli attacks on Gaza’s medical sector that affected 101 health facilities, including 32 hospitals.

These include:

  • October 2023 –  a missile hits the car park of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing hundreds of people.
  • November 2023 – Israeli forces enter Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa, after a siege of several days. They also launch an attack on al-Awda, killing at least three doctors.
  • December 2023 – Israeli forces take control of al-Awda after a 12-day siege, during which snipers kill two members of the medical staff at the facility.
  • January 2024 – Israeli forces order the evacuation of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and raid the facility.
  • March 2024 – Israeli attack on al-Aqsa Hospital kills many civilians sheltering in the hospital. The same month, the military also launches a new assault on al-Shifa, leaving it in ruins.

The October 2023 strike was first believed to be a failed Hamas rocket launch. Yet in Februari that story was debunked as disinformation
https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/israeli-disinformation-al-ahli-hospital


Gaza’s rubbish crisis – living alongside piles of waste

Tonnes of waste are piling up across the Gaza Strip, contaminating water, polluting the air, and spreading disease.