Israeli drone shoots Palestinian child dead in Gaza
A Palestinian child was shot dead by an Israeli drone on al-Nafaq Street in central Gaza, our colleagues on the ground have reported, sharing the gruesome footage online.
The video also shows Israeli forces attacking those that came to the child’s rescue. The area was also struck by two missiles.
Israeli drone killing of Palestinian child part of ‘widespread’ executions: UN expert
The extrajudicial killing of Palestinian children in Gaza by Israeli soldiers is “systematic and widespread”, and intended to “destroy” the Palestinian people, a UN expert said.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, made her comments following the release of video footage showing the execution-like shooting of a child in central Gaza by an Israeli drone.
The harrowing video clip captures the killing and then a missile attack on those who went to the child’s rescue.
“While these scenes are hard to process, it is important to understand that extrajudicial executions of Palestinian civilians – often children – are absolutely not isolated incidents,” Albanese wrote in a post on social media.
“These events represent a part of the systematic and widespread actions being carried out by Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The rationale? The opportunity to target (and destroy) the Palestinians, which the State of Israel appears determined not to let slip away,” she said.
While these scenes are hard to process, it is important to understand that extrajudicial executions of Palestinian civilians—often children—are absolutely not isolated incidents. These events represent a part of the systematic and widespread actions being carried out by Israeli… https://t.co/lHFs9NxY9J
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) October 18, 2024
Israeli army kills one, wounds several at Kamal Adwan Hospital
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces targeted the entrance of the laboratory of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, killing one person and wounding several others.
The Israeli forces have been carrying out a large-scale operation in northern Gaza, which is also under siege with families trapped there.
‘Decomposing and eaten by stray dogs’: Bodies in the streets of bombed, besieged Jabalia
Fares Afana, head of emergency services in northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera that ambulance crews and rescue workers are unable to retrieve the wounded and dying in Jabalia, while the bodies of the dead are lying in the streets “decomposing and eaten by stray dogs”.
“We received several emergency calls from people in the vicinity of Abu Ghazala School. However, we cannot respond to these calls as the Israeli soldiers deployed in the area are denying us access,” Afana said.
“It is confirmed that many dead bodies as well as wounded civilians are still lying in these residential homes. We had earlier appealed to the international community, namely the Red Cross, to act swiftly to at least spare the lives of those dying victims, and recover and bury the dead,” he said.
“Many of the dead are left on the streets, decomposing and eaten by stray dogs, as the [Israeli army] continue to deny paramedics access to the bombed areas,” he added.
The Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip in August 2024
Smell of death everywhere in Jabalia
Israeli bombardment in the north did not slow down throughout the night. Jabalia refugee camp remains under a crippling blockade, which has been going on for 15 days.
Within the past 24 hours, the situation has significantly deteriorated, according to witnesses, who said the camp is surrounded by Israeli tanks and destruction is everywhere. The smell of death is in every corner of the Jabalia refugee camp.
Witnesses say the Israeli army has thrust deeper into the main areas in Jabalia, adding that hospitals there are also surrounded by the Israeli forces. There have been confirmed clashes with Hamas operatives and families are still trapped in the camp as houses and buildings keep being destroyed.
