Gaza Death Toll Mounts as Israeli Airstrikes Intensify
Gaza’s Palestinian health authorities reported that Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of at least 65 individuals in Gaza over the preceding 24 hours. The casualties include women, children, and two journalists. This escalation occurs nearly a week after the breakdown of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Civilians Flee as New Offensive Grips Gaza
Panic has gripped Palestinian civilians in Gaza as they flee their homes once more. Israel‘s latestoffensive in the territory commenced last Tuesday with a series of airstrikes. These initial strikes resulted in approximately 700 fatalities, predominantly civilians, effectively ending two months of relative calm, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry.
Journalists Among the Dead
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Hossam Shabat, a journalist working for Al Jazeera Mubasher channel, was killed in northern Gaza on Monday. Eyewitness accounts conveyed to the network indicate that his vehicle was deliberately targeted in eastern Beit Lahiya.
Earlier on the same day, Mohammad Mansour, a reporter for Palestine Today, perished in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Witnesses stated that Mansour was targeted “in his residence with his wife and son” and received no prior warning.
The Israel Defense Forces have not yet issued a statement regarding these incidents.
The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate reports that at least 208 journalists and media personnel have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023.
School Sheltering Displaced Hit
Palestinian medics reported that an Israeli strike impacted a school in the Gaza Strip where displaced individuals were seeking refuge on Monday. The attack resulted in at least four deaths, including a child.
Al-Awda hospital, which received casualties from the incident, reported that another 18 individuals sustained injuries in Monday’s strike in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp. Prior reports from three other hospitals indicated 25 fatalities from Israeli strikes overnight and into Monday.
Hospital Targeted, Hamas Leader Killed
The Israeli military has not yet commented directly on these specific events but maintains that it solely targets militants and takes measures to minimize civilian casualties.
In a separate Israeli airstrike on Sunday night, Nasser hospital, the largest medical facility in southern Gaza, was struck. This incident resulted in five deaths, including a Hamas political leader.
The Israeli military stated that the attack was based on extensive intelligence and employed precision munitions to limit harm at the location.
Hamas verified the death of Ismail Barhoum, a member of its political office. Israel‘s defense minister, Israel Katz, confirmed that Barhoum was the intended target.
Hamas‘s al-Aqsa TV stated that Barhoum was receiving treatment at the hospital for injuries sustained in a previous attack. Salah al-Bardawil, another Hamas leader, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis on Sunday. Hamas sources indicate that both Bardawil and Barhoum were part of the 19-member political office, the group’s decision-making body. Eleven members of this body have been killed since the conflict began in late 2023.
Sunday’s strike on Nasser hospital marks the second attack on a health facility in Gaza within three days. On Friday, Israel detonated central Gaza‘s Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital, Gaza‘s only specialized cancer treatment center, which had already suffered severe damage from Israeli airstrikes since October 2023.
Eyewitness Account from Nasser Hospital
Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a volunteer with a Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) team at Nasser hospital, recounted that medics in the emergency department were awaiting incoming patients when a powerful explosion shook the building.
“Everyone rushed out to see what had occurred, until one of my colleagues screamed, ‘They hit surgery’,” Haj-Hassan stated in a voice message. “There was significant smoke and fire. I immediately ran to the adjacent building, where the paediatric ICU is located, to retrieve my portable ultrasounds and a few essential items, anticipating incoming casualties.”
“As I exited, I witnessed flames engulfing the second floor of the building.”
Steve Cutts, the chief executive of MAP, asserted that the attack “demonstrates once again that nowhere in Gaza is safe.”
Cutts added that a 16-year-old boy, in recovery from prior surgery, was also killed, and at least eight individuals, including medical staff, sustained injuries.
The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that its office in southern Gaza Strip sustained damage from an explosive projectile on Monday, but no staff members were injured.
Netanyahu’s Objectives and Hostage Situation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the war aims to dismantle Hamas as both a military and governing force. He indicated last week that the renewed campaign aims to compel the group to release the remaining hostages.
On Monday, Hamas‘s armed wing released a video featuring two Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Palestinian militants’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The released footage, lasting slightly over three minutes and with an unconfirmed recording date, depicts two men seated on the floor speaking in Hebrew to a released hostage. They are requesting him to recount his captivity experiences to expedite their own release.
Ceasefire Proposal on the Table
Meanwhile, officials report that Egypt has presented a new proposal aimed at reviving the Gaza ceasefire negotiations.
According to the proposed plan, Hamas would release five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, in exchange for Israel permitting humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip and a weeks-long cessation of hostilities, according to an Egyptian official on Monday. Israel would also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
A Hamas official stated that the group had provided a “positive response” to the proposal, without giving further details.
Gaza War: Devastating Casualties
The Gaza Health Ministry reports tragically high casualty figures since the war’s commencement. At least 50,082 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and another 113,408 have been wounded. The war was initiated by an attack by Hamas militants in Israel in October 2023, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, and the taking of 251 hostages.