Zionist enemy’s massacres claim lives of more than 18,000 Palestinians
GAZA, Dec. 14 (YPA) – Dozens of Palestinians were martyred on Thursday, and hundreds of others, most of them children and women, were injured during the past 24 hours as a result of Zionist enemy raids and artillery shelling on residential neighborhoods and schools sheltering the displaced in several areas of the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip had risen to 18,787 martyrs, in addition to 50,897 wounded since October 7.
The Health Ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said in a press conference on Thursday, on the 69th day of the brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip: “The Israeli occupation forces committed 18 massacres and genocide crimes during the past hours in the Gaza Strip.”
Al-Qudra reported that 179 martyrs and 303 wounded had arrived during the past hours in Gaza Strip hospitals, while a large number of victims were still under rubble and on the roads.
He pointed out that the Israeli occupation turned Kamal Adwan Hospital into a barracks and a theater for its military operations and, under threat, demanded the evacuation of the wounded and sick to the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which lacks all therapeutic components, and this constitutes an execution for them.
“The occupation forces threaten 12 children in care as a result of the lack of milk and life support equipment for them,” he said, noting that the occupation forces arrested 70 medical staff and the wounded, led by hospital director Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot.
The Ministry spokesman expressed his fear that the occupation would carry out a criminal scenario against Al Awda Hospital, noting that it is besieging the hospital, depriving it of water, food, and electricity, and preventing the wounded and sick from reaching it.
He pointed out that the health situation in hospitals in southern Gaza is the worst as a result of their loss of absorptive and treatment capacities, and medical staff differentiate between serious cases to save lives and what can be saved among the large numbers arriving at hospitals in the south.
Al-Qudra appealed to international institutions to support them with medicines, medical consumables, fuel, and specialized medical teams.
He also pointed out that the occupation continues to arrest 38 health personnel, led by Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya, in harsh and inhumane conditions and interrogate them under torture and starvation.
The Israeli aggression against the health system led to the martyrdom of 300 health personnel and the destruction of 102 ambulances, while the Israeli violations targeted 138 health institutions and put 22 hospitals and 52 health centers out of operation, according to Al-Qudra.
He warned that the health and humanitarian situation in shelter centers and places is unbearable and unimaginable, expressing fear of the death of tens of thousands as a result of the spread of epidemics, infectious diseases, malnutrition, a lack of drinking water and personal hygiene, and the lack of any health services available to them.
He called on international institutions to work to provide living conditions and health care to shelter centers for more than 700,000 children, 50,000 pregnant women, and thousands of sick and wounded people.
YPA