40,139 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7: Health Ministry
At least 40,139 Palestinians have been killed and 92,743 others injured in Israel’s offensive on Gaza since October 7, says Gaza’s Health Ministry. The toll includes 40 deaths over the past 24 hours, according to the ministry figures.
Nearly two million Palestinians have been displaced and face a grave humanitarian crisis as the war enters its 11th month.
Six children among 25 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
Entire Palestinian families are being wiped out by with the latest Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
A family of eight, including six children, were killed while they were sleeping in Deir el-Balah, in the centre of the Strip.
Fighting in Deir el-Balah would cut off vital medical care
We have been hearing from doctors, nurses, and even the administration of [al-Aqsa] Hospital that they are grappling to continue providing healthcare services to Gaza’s population, especially since they are getting very few hours of electricity and are forced to ration the depleted fuel reserves.
They depend on small generators that can sustain critical functions. Vulnerable patients are in desperate need of advanced surgeries, and newborn babies need a high level of medical care in terms of incubators. Medical teams here are doing their best to continue providing services despite a lack of salaries and humanitarian resources.
They have been saying that if there’s going to be more expansion of the fighting in Deir el-Balah, it means that Al-Aqsa Hospital will become out of service, which means that more than a million Palestinians will be deprived of getting essential medical care.
Israeli forces kill Palestinian journalist in Khan Younis
Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Muharab, 26, was killed last night by Israeli forces north of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Accompanied by a group of colleagues, he was on his way to Hamad City – where the Israeli military has launched a second ground invasion since the start of the war – when they were targeted by tanks, according to the Wafa news agency. Ambulance crews found Muharab’s body this morning.
He had worked with multiple outlets as a freelance journalist and was a member of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
Muharab is the 169th journalist to be killed in Gaza by the Israeli military.
The moment the martyr, journalist friend Ibrahim Muharab, arrived at Nasser Hospital after his body was found in Hamad City. Ibrahim was killed yesterday as a result of targeting a group of journalists during coverage.
لحظة وصول الشهيد الصديق الصحفي إبراهيم محارب إلى مستشفى ناصر… pic.twitter.com/8ASOKutYuS
— Hassan Hamad (@Hassan_hamad77) August 19, 2024
Casualties reported after Israeli attacks on Nuseirat and Deir el-Balah
At least three Palestinians have been “killed and wounded” in Israeli shelling of southern Nuseirat and another three casualties are reported after an Israeli air attack on a house south of Deir el-Balah, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
The casualties were taken from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza to al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
Separately, the Palestinian Information Center reported an unidentified number of deaths and injuries in an Israeli air attack on the Abu Awda family home in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of southern Gaza’s Khan Younis city.
Palestinians ‘live among the rubble’: UNRWA spokesperson
Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), says some Palestinians in Gaza have no choice but to live in the rubble of destroyed buildings amid expanding Israeli evacuation orders.
“Strikes are now relentless: the day starts with people checking if family and friends are still alive, and ends hoping they make it through the night,” she said in a post on X.
Strikes are now relentless: the day starts with people checking if family & friends are still alive, & ends hoping they make it through the night
Destruction on such staggering scale that minimal structures remain. With nowhere else to turn, displaced families live among rubble. pic.twitter.com/ziIRDt8yCS
— Louise Wateridge (@UNWateridge) August 19, 2024
Israeli military confirms ‘expanding’ ground invasion of Khan Younis, Deir el-Balah
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari has confirmed that the ground invasion of Khan Younis in southern Gaza and the outskirts of Deir el-Balah in the central part is expanding.
The military released aerial footage of what it said was a 1.5km-long (about a mile-long) tunnel that was being demolished. It also claimed that Israeli soldiers killed an unspecified number of Palestinian fighters and found weapons in Khan Younis.
Several Palestinians killed in Israeli attack in southern Gaza
Our colleagues on the ground are reporting five Palestinians have been killed and many wounded in an Israeli air strike targeting the Austrian Towers area west of Khan Younis.
Earlier, we reported an Israeli army spokesperson had confirmed a ground offensive on Khan Younis in southern Gaza and on the outskirts of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza is expanding.
More on Israeli attack in Khan Younis
