Thousands still missing in Gaza, many with ‘disintegrated bodies’
The Palestinian Civil Defence says the true death toll in Gaza is likely much higher than more than 40,000 confirmed since thousands of people remain missing.
The organisation confirms that at least 10,000 Palestinians remain under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli military attacks, and rescuers are unable to get to them due to the ongoing attacks, including the deliberate targeting of civil defence crews.
It says it has observed about 1,760 presumed-dead Palestinians in Gaza whose bodies “disintegrated” due to the use of high-intensity weapons.
Moreover, there are approximately 8,240 people who have been “forcibly disappeared” by the Israeli military, along with about 2,210 bodies that have disappeared from graves across the Gaza Strip.
A civil defence crew searches for survivors in the rubble of a home in Gaza, on August 18
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza, which has renewed its call to international organisations to deliver more humanitarian aid, has more reporting from the besieged enclave:
- 82 civil defence responders have been killed and 270 wounded since October 7. That means 40 percent of crews have been subjected to physical harm, in addition to all losing relatives or homes.
- Civil defence headquarters were completely levelled, with 12 administrative vehicles, 11 fire engines, eight ambulances, three rescue and rapid intervention vehicles and four water tankers also destroyed.
- The Israeli military prevented the retrieval of 7,552 injured Palestinians across Gaza.
- Nearly 85,000 explosives were dropped over Gaza – with 17 percent remaining unexploded – leading to the destruction of 80 percent of total urban infrastructure.
- Over 90 children have been killed so far after handling explosives that were placed inside cans of food.
- Over 72,000 distress calls were answered, but some 15,000 could not be responded to by civil defence crews due to chronic fuel shortages.
Rafah’s Kuwaiti Hospital stops surgeries due to lack of doctors, supplies
Suhaib al-Hams, director of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Gaza’s Rafah city, has said a shortage of doctors, medicines and fuel has forced the facility to stop performing surgeries.
“We are witnessing the collapse of the health system and an inability to care for patients and the increasing number of injuries due to the bombing,” he was quoted as saying by the Palestinian Information Center.
Palestinians endure in unsafe designated areas
The area shown in the video is part of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where many Palestinians are forced to survive in tents in dire conditions amid expanding Israeli military evacuation orders.
أوامر بإخلاء منطقة المواصي بعد تصنيفها"إنسانية" #حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/9tjM7ILjvO
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) August 18, 2024
Palestinians in Gaza take precautions after polio virus detected
Health authorities and aid agencies are racing to avert an outbreak of polio in Gaza after the virus was detected in the territory’s wastewater, and cases with suspected polio symptoms have been reported
A Palestinian woman bottle-feeds her baby girl at Al-Aqsa Hospital amid fears over the spread of polio after the Ministry of Health reported the first case in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza
A doctor examines a Palestinian girl amid fears over the spread of polio in Gaza
