Belgium condemns attack on Gaza school
Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that “attacks against civilians must stop” in a post condemning the latest Israeli attack on a school in Gaza. “According to [the UN], more than 20 strikes on schools sheltering displaced people took place since July 4, killing nearly 300 people,” the ministry said in a post on X.
Belgium condemns the attack on a school in #Gaza.
According to @UN, more than 20 strikes on schools sheltering displaced people took place since July 4, killing nearly 300 people.
❌Attacks against civilians must stop. #IHL must be respected. We repeat our call for a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/BjNuhofEWh
— 🇧🇪 Belgium MFA (@BelgiumMFA) August 21, 2024
Fleeing Palestinians say death would be more merciful
As we’ve been reporting, thousands of Palestinians are on the move again after Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders for Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.
We heard from two of them in Khan Younis.
“Death is more merciful in this country. We were displaced 20 times. I swear to God, our houses and tents were struck. They do not want us to live, oh God, they even do not want us to enjoy our life,” a young man said in a video testimony.
“The people are dying and there are wounded. The people do not know where to go, even al-Mawasi is not safe. We do not know where to go, to the sea or where?”
Another man said, “Where are the human rights? Where are the people? Where is the world that is watching us? Are we just Arabs by name? Where are the Arabs? All the United States and the world are against us because we are Arabs. We want to die.”
Palestinian women and children sit in the back of a vehicle as they flee Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on August 21
MSF says Israel’s new evacuation orders are ‘inhumane’
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said its staff are among the thousands of people who are having to flee central Gaza after Israel’s military issued new evacuation orders for Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.
“The continuous forced displacement of people is inhumane,” MSF project coordinator Jacob Granger said in a statement.
“People have no belongings left, nowhere left to go. There is no room to put tents up. The overcrowding, severe lack of water, and minimal sanitation services are fuelling the spread of diseases. We are unable to keep up with the overwhelming needs.”
OCHA says Israel’s evacuation orders ‘hindering people’s access to healthcare’
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israel’s multiple evacuation orders have disrupted health services in Gaza.
“The distance of these [evacuation] orders is one kilometre or less from four key hospitals: Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Amal and Kuwaiti Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) hospitals, and Al Aqsa Hospital, hindering people’s access to healthcare,” OCHA said in its latest update on Israel’s war on Gaza.
The UN organisation added that the success of an upcoming polio vaccination campaign hinges on both sides committing to a humanitarian pause for at least seven days for each round of vaccinations.
“Without this, insecurity will prevent the campaign from being fully implemented and the risk of poliovirus spreading across the Strip and beyond remains high,” OCHA said.
Many of Gaza’s water wells are in newly evacuated zones: UNRWA
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), many of the remaining functional water wells and sanitation facilities in Gaza are now in newly evacuated areas, making access to clean water even more challenging.
“With overcrowding, lack of hygiene and unbearable heat, access to clean water continues to be a struggle,” said the UN agency in a post on X.
Yesterday, Israel issued new evacuation orders for parts of Deir el-Balah, forcing thousands of civilians to move again.
Critical water wells & sanitation infrastructure have been repeatedly damaged throughout the war. Many are now located in zones impacted by new evacuation orders.
With overcrowding, lack of hygiene & unbearable heat, access to clean water continues to be a struggle in #GazaStrip pic.twitter.com/E4GB7mqAk8
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 22, 2024
Students in Gaza study online as Israel destroys universities
As a new academic year begins, students in Gaza face an uncertain future. They have missed an entire year due to Israel’s relentless attacks that have damaged or destroyed all of Gaza’s universities since October 7.
Despite challenges and risks, some students are turning to online learning.
Save the Children calls on UK to cease arms sales to Israel
The NGO has taken to X to ask the government of the United Kingdom to immediately stop selling weapons to Israel, “given the clear risk they might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law”.
It cited a BBC News story about a Gaza nurse who said that an entire family, including multiple children, was killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza. “We simply cannot accept the violence that Palestinian children continue to face as normal,” Save the Children said.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 16,500 children.
