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SvennoJ on 17 August 2024
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Children ‘torn to pieces’ in az-Zawayda attack



The overnight attack in az-Zawayda, which is only a few kilometres from where we are, was massive. It targeted a warehouse where a displaced family was sheltering. The warehouse was hit by at least three Israeli missiles, causing a great deal of destruction.

A massive fire broke out, burning everything in the warehouse as children were torn to pieces. Rescue efforts are still continuing to try to recover more bodies.

Fifteen people have been reported killed, including six children. There is a great level of frustration and grief. The bodies are now being lined up at Al-Aqsa Hospital’s morgue as the family gets ready to bury them.


Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli attack in az-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip on August 17


Nine children killed in az-Zawayda attack

We can now bring you more information on the victims of Israel’s attack in central Gaza’s az-Zawayda.

All 15 people killed in the attack are members of the same family – the Ajlah family – said Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal. Among those killed are nine children and three women, he added.

Ahmed Abu al-Ghoul, a local who witnessed the assault, told AFP that three rockets hit the building the family was sheltering in while women and children were inside. “What have they done to deserve this?” he asked.




‘Israeli strikes keep wiping out whole families’

The attack carried out in az-Zawayda has brought significant damage to the warehouse that people were taking clear refuge in after being displaced from the north of the Strip. The death toll is incredibly shocking, with 16 being killed, according to medical sources.

The toll is rising, and more air strikes continue to hammer the vast majority of residential houses in the central areas.

One of the latest attacks has targeted a residential square on the western side of the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least seven Palestinians from the same family.

We are observing that the latest Israeli strikes have been wiping out whole families. This is a clear escalation practised by the Israeli army in areas that are supposed to be safe humanitarian zones.


Six killed near Nuseirat: Report

An Israeli air raid has struck a house near the Nuseirat refugee camp, reports the Wafa news agency. The attack, to the west of the camp, killed at least six people, including two children, and injured others, according to the agency.

The victims have been brought to al-Awda Hospital, it said. The attack comes after another series of deadly air strikes we have been reporting on in the az-Zawayda area, located a few kilometres south of Nuseirat camp.


Medics find six bodies in Jabalia

Emergency medics with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) have recovered the bodies of six people killed by an Israeli attack in the Jabalia refugee camp, according to the group. The medics also rescued one person injured from the attack, it said.

The victims were brought to a local hospital, according to footage shared by the group.


40,074 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7

Israeli military attacks have killed 69 people and injured 136 more in the last 48 hours, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. This brings the enclave’s casualty toll since October 7 to 40,074 killed and 92,537 wounded, it said.


Qassam Brigades says it killed Israeli soldiers in Gaza City

The armed wing of Hamas says on Telegram that its fighters “detonated two antipersonnel devices in two enemy pockets and clashed with the remaining soldiers with machine guns”. It also said the attacks left soldiers dead and wounded in the vicinity of the University College in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, south of Gaza City in southern Gaza.

The statement added fighters saw the landing of a medical evacuation helicopter.


Palestinians in Gaza have to rely on ‘very small supplies’ of aid: UNRWA

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has reiterated its calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in a post on X.


Palestinian health minister announces Gaza polio vaccination campaign: Report

Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Minister Majid Abu Ramadan has announced an extensive polio vaccination campaign for children under 10 in the Gaza Strip that will commence in the coming days.

Wafa said this initiative would be carried out in collaboration with UNRWA, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization. Abu Ramadan said the first phase would include 1.2 million doses of the type 2 polio vaccine, with an additional 400,000 doses currently being purchased.


Preparing for the worst-case scenario of polio outbreak’

The threat of polio is rising fast in Gaza, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak. One case has been confirmed, and others are suspected.

“We are anticipating and preparing for the worst-case scenario of a polio outbreak in the coming weeks or month,” Francis Hughes, the Gaza response director at CARE International, told The Associated Press.

The aid group Mercy Corps estimates some 50,000 babies born since the war began have not been immunised against polio. Aid workers anticipate the number of suspected cases will rise, and worry that the disease could be hard to contain without urgent intervention and a ceasefire.

“This is very concerning,” UNICEF spokesperson Ammar Ammar said. “It is impossible to carry out the vaccination in an active war zone and the alternative would be unconscionable for the children in Gaza and the whole region.”