United Nations’ vehicles escort a destroyed truck that was reportedly used by workers of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was fired upon by Israeli forces earlier.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday (October 24, 2024) Israel aims to “empty” the Gaza Strip of Palestinians, especially in the northern part where it launched a sweeping assault this month.
“It has been a full year since the greatest catastrophe that the Palestinian people experienced after the Nakba of 1948, which is the Israeli war in which crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing are being committed in the Gaza Strip,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech to members of the BRICS group. “This is part of a plan to empty the territory of its people, especially now in northern Gaza where the occupation forces are resorting to starving the population there.”
Israel strikes school
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in the central Gaza Strip killed at least 17 people on Thursday, nearly all women and children, Palestinian medical officials said. Another 42 people were wounded in the strike in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda Hospital. Among the dead were 13 children under the age of 18 and three women, according to the hospital‘s records.
The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants in a command and control centre inside the school, without providing evidence. Israel has carried out several strikes on schools-turned-shelters in recent months, saying it precisely targets Hamas militants hiding out among civilians.
Health workers in besieged northern Gaza, meanwhile, warned of a catastrophic situation there, where Israel has been waging an air and ground offensive for more than two weeks. The director of a hospital said it is running short on supplies and first responders said they can no longer rescue people.
Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled their homes in northern Gaza in recent days.
Published – October 25, 2024 04:30 am IST
