Photo: Sympathizers at the mass burial.
Mass grave dug at Gaza hospital following incessant IDF bombings
The catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip following relentless bombardments by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has grown worse culminating in the digging of mass graves for the burial of victims, which included newborns.
The Israeli military attacks and a lack of fuel to generate electricity for hospitals have claimed the lives of several patients in recent days, according to Palestinian and UN officials.
Around 180 decomposing bodies on the grounds of al-Shifa, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, have begun to be buried in a mass grave in a courtyard, according to German News Agency, dpa.
The report accords with the descriptions of the situation by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which earlier said about 100 bodies that could not be buried at the hospital were interred in a mass grave.
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has risen to 11,500 since the start of the war on October 7, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. Some 29,000 people have been injured.
The UN’s main agency in the Gaza Strip said that humanitarian operations were ending due to the lack of fuel.
Israel has not allowed fuel into the territory due to fears it could be used by Hamas fighters.
“The humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, on which over 2 million people depend, is gradually coming to an end because no fuel has been allowed into the Gaza Strip since October 7,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.
“It is very simple. Without fuel, the humanitarian operation in Gaza is coming to an end. Many more people will suffer and will likely die,” he said.
The push to free the hostages held by Hamas has made little progress.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday it still had not been granted access by Hamas to see them.
“We have been insisting to see the hostages,” spokeswoman Fatima Sator said in Geneva on Tuesday.
“It is part of our dialogue with Hamas,” she added.
Angry relatives and friends of the hostages are marching almost 70 kilometres from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, where they are set to arrive on Sunday.
There, they are to march to the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to organisers.
Only four hostages have been released and one was freed in a military operation.
It is unclear how many of the others are still alive.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply disturbed” by the perilous situation at Gaza’s hospitals and, “in the name of humanity,” called for a ceasefire.
Another dire warning came from the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, which said humanitarian operations were grinding to a halt due to the lack of fuel.
Street fighting in Gaza City is also preventing emergency workers from responding to calls for help from people trapped under rubble after Israeli bombardments.
People who can no longer get out of their homes and those who need ambulances for the wounded often wait in vain, OCHA reported, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Israel says Hamas is using medical facilities and civilians as “human shields,” with terrorists operating command centres in or under hospitals, including al-Shifa, making them legitimate targets.
IDF says Hamas weapons and explosives were found at al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital after the site was evacuated on Sunday.
Almost 1.6 million of the approximately 2.3 million inhabitants of the sealed-off Gaza Strip have been displaced since the start of the Israeli attacks on Oct. 7. Many have taken shelter in hospitals.
Israel’s offensive against the Gaza-based Hamas was prompted by Hamas invasion of Israel by land, sea and air, and the killing of about 1,200 Israelis.
The terrorist group also kidnapped around 240 people and took them to Gaza.
Meanwhile, three people were injured in Tel Aviv on Tuesday after militants in Gaza once again fired rockets at the city.
The city was last targeted by rockets from the Palestinian territory on Friday.
