Killing of civilians continues in Gaza, day after day after day.
Three dead as Israeli military bombs Deir el-Balah in central Gaza
Israeli forces have bombed several areas in the city of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing three people, including a child and a woman, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.
Al Jazeera Arabic also reports that an Israeli helicopter has fired missiles at targets in the city. It’s not currently clear if the two attacks are the same.
An injured Palestinian boy is treated at al-Ahli Hospital following an Israeli attack on a school sheltering forcibly displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday
Bombed homes in north Gaza now graves for people trapped alive beneath rubble
The director of the besieged and under-fire Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has told of starvation-like conditions in the area and people trapped alive beneath a bombed building with no hope of rescue.
Dr Hussam Abu Safia said his medical facility is no longer able to “provide even a single meal to the patients, which prolongs wound healing, nor can we offer a meal to the healthcare workers who work around the clock”.
The hospital is seeing cases of children and adults who are malnourished and dehydrated, he said, adding his facility is running extremely low on medical supplies, The Associated Press news agency reports.
The director said his hospital has received phone calls from civilians trapped alive under buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes, but there was no way to rescue them. “Sadly, the next day, their voices were gone, and they were counted among the dead, with their homes becoming their graves,” he said.
“This scene is repeated daily.”
Palestinians view the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from the area around the Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, on October 26
UN says Gaza aid convoy comes under fire, food stolen
The UN says three drivers were injured when 14 trucks in a 20-truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid were shot at and had food stolen in central Gaza.
The trucks had collected aid from the newly opened Kissufim border crossing with Israel – located near southern Gaza’s Khan Younis – and were travelling to a warehouse in Gaza’s central Deir el-Balah area when the convoy came under fire, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
The attack was a “law and order” episode and not crossfire between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces, he said.
“For months we’ve been calling for the opening of more land routes, both into and within Gaza,” Dujarric said. “But we also need increased access and security assurances, as well as more supplies so they can quickly reach all people across Gaza at the necessary scale,” he said.
“As we’ve said repeatedly, it is also critical that Israeli authorities facilitate the movement of aid workers and supplies across the Gaza Strip,” he added.
That's what happens when you kill the civil defense forces and starve people for a year. Desperation has set in, law of the jungle now rules.
Nearly impossible to get aid to northern Gaza: UN official
Sending aid to Gaza is more difficult than ever with the enclave’s north almost totally cut off, UN humanitarian official Jens Laerke says.
“From our perspective, on all indicators you can possibly think of in a humanitarian response, all of them are going in the wrong direction,” said Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“Access is at a low point. Chaos, suffering, despair, death, destruction, displacement are at a high point.”
Laerke’s remarks run counter to a US assessment this week that Israel is not currently impeding humanitarian assistance for the Gaza Strip and thereby avoids restrictions on its US military aid.
