Gaza child dies of malnutrition, baby has shrapnel removal surgery, and on and on – Day 293

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Gaza child dies of malnutrition, baby has shrapnel removal surgery, and on and on – Day 293
A view of destruction after Israeli attack on field hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on July 27, 2024. 31 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the shelling of the field hospital in Haditha School. [Anas Zeyad Fteha – Anadolu Agency] (photo)

Starvation, suffering, bombing, mass displacement, humanitarian vehicles under fire in Gaza; Palestinian prisoner death in West Bank; calls for medical evacuation from Rafah; JNF loses tax exempt status in Canada; Francesca Albanese under attack for “antisemitic” comment; Germany threatens Palestine activist for Zoom presentation; more.

By IAK staff, from reports.

Child dies in Deir el-Balah from malnutrition, dehydration

A child has died in Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza due to dehydration and malnutrition, our colleagues on the ground report.

Several UN human rights experts have warned that there is “no doubt” famine already exists across the Strip.

31 killed in Israeli attack on Gaza girls’ school housing displaced Palestinians

Andalou Agency reports: At least 31 Palestinians, including children, were killed and many others injured on Saturday in an Israeli attack targeting a field hospital in a school housing displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.

“The death toll from Israel’s attack on a field hospital inside a school housing displaced people in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza has risen to 31,” the Gaza government media office spokesman, Ismail Al-Thawabta, told Anadolu.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army stated that its fighter jets attacked the Khadija school in the central Gaza Strip, claiming to target Hamas members.

Medical sources told Anadolu that the Israeli army bombed the school in an area that was classified as a “humanitarian safe zone” in Deir al-Balah.

A view of destruction after Israeli attack on field hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on July 27, 2024. 31 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the shelling of the field hospital in Haditha School.
A view of destruction after Israeli attack on field hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on July 27, 2024. 31 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in the shelling of the field hospital in Haditha School. (photo)

Gaza: Jordan Field Hospital performs surgery on baby

The staff of the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza, known as Gaza/79, performed surgery on Thursday to remove shrapnel fragments from the body of a three-month-old baby.

The Jordanian field hospital Gaza/79 staff arrived in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to perform their humanitarian and medical duties and provide aid and assistance to the people there.

70% of the victims in Israel's bombardment of Gaza have been women and children
70% of the victims in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza have been women and children (photo)

Another mass displacement of Gazans, as food rations are severely reduced

Andalou Agency reports: An Israeli evacuation order has displaced at least 190,000 people in the cities of the Gaza Strip this week, a UN official said on Friday.

“Our humanitarian partners estimate that more than 190,000 Palestinians have been displaced this week in Khan Yunis and Deir al Balah since Monday’s evacuation order,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters.

Hundreds of others remain stranded in eastern Khan Yunis as the fighting continues, Haq added.

“The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says recent evacuation directives and intense hostilities have destabilized aid operations and hampered efforts to provide critical relief to civilians in Khan Yunis,” he said.

This week, a dozen distribution points for food and eight for cooked meals were forced to halt their operations, and nutrition programs at two shelters supporting more than 2,800 children and pregnant women were also disrupted, he said.

Citing OCHA, Haq said ongoing insecurity and the designation of only one access point, the Kerem Shalom crossing, for the entry and exit of humanitarian staff into and out of Gaza have hampered efforts to deploy additional emergency medical teams in Gaza.

“These workers are critically needed to help support the exhausted local health force,” he said, underlining that none of Gaza’s 36 hospitals is “fully functioning.”

Hamas leader in West Bank dies in Israeli custody amid reports of torture

The Guardian reports: A Hamas leader in the West Bank has died in Israeli custody after a deterioration in his health condition, a Palestinian governmental body has said.

Mustafa Muhammad Abu Ara, 63, died after being transferred to a hospital from the Ramon jail in southern Israel, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs said in a statement.

“Before his arrest, he was suffering from serious health problems and needed intensive medical follow-up. However, from the moment of his arrest, Sheikh Abu Ara, like all prisoners, has faced unprecedented crimes … since the beginning of the war of extermination.”

Abu Ara, who was arrested in October last year, was subjected to torture and deprived of medical treatment, the Palestinian body said. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

In a statement, Hamas said it mourned his passing and held the occupation responsible for his “assassination through deliberate medical neglect”.

Former prisoners and rights groups have accused Israel of the widespread abuse of Palestinian prisoners including beatings, dog attacks, the prolonged use of stress positions and sexual assault since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October.

At least 18 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since then, the Palestinian Prisoners Association said last month.

UN chief says Israeli military fired on 3 UN convoys in 3 days in Gaza

Al Jazeera reports: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Israeli forces were responsible for firing on three of the UN’s aid convoys over three days in the Gaza Strip.

The attacks took place between Sunday and Tuesday, and bullets pierced UN vehicles on two occasions, Guterres said at a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

“They were shot by the Israeli military,” the UN chief said.

The UN said earlier this week that one attack was on a UN convoy carrying humanitarian workers and children near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.

No one was injured by the Israeli gunfire.

UN calls to open Rafah Crossing: Tens of thousands of patients in Gaza need evacuation

Middle East Monitor reports: The United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine Muhannad Hadi called on Friday for the reopening of the Rafah Crossing to evacuate patients from the Gaza Strip and facilitate the entry of goods. Hadi noted that tens of thousands of patients in the Strip need immediate evacuation to receive treatment abroad.

This came during a speech at a briefing session held by the UN Security Council at the request of Algeria, China and Russia to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In his speech, Hadi stressed: “There is a need to reopen the Rafah Crossing to evacuate patients from Gaza and facilitate the entry of individuals, goods, and fuel into the Strip.”

He pointed out in this regard that tens of thousands of patients in Gaza need “immediate medical evacuation” and urged not to impose any restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Israel closed the Rafah Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip since its army took control of it on 7 May, depriving patients and the wounded of the ability to travel abroad for treatment, especially given the deteriorating health system in Gaza as a result of the Israeli war.

Latest OCHA report emphasizes destabilization, shortages

Recent evacuation orders by the Israeli military and intensified hostilities have significantly destabilized aid operations and further diminished the ability of humanitarian organizations to provide relief to people in need in Khan Younis governorate. A few examples:

  • On 23 July, the Nasser Medical Complex announced that, due to the lack of medicines and supplies, a number of patients who were transported to the facility following the 22 July bombardments in Khan Younis succumbed to their injuries.
  • Many of those who volunteered to donate blood were found to be medically unfit to do so due to wasting and malnutrition.
  • Twelve food distribution points and eight cooked meal provision points suspended their operations, and nutrition programs at two shelters supporting over 2,800 children and pregnant women have been disrupted.
  • Protection services, including child protection and Gender-Based Violence response, have been halted, leaving thousands of women and girls at risk.
  • Ten critical water and sanitation facilities, including water desalination plants, water reservoirs and sewage pumping stations, have also ceased operations, exacerbating public health risks due to overcrowding and inadequate sanitation.
  • A highly insecure operating environment, combined with the designation of only one access point (Kerem Shalom Crossing) for the movement of humanitarian staff, has limited the number of aid workers who are able to rotate in and out of Gaza and hampered efforts to deploy additional Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) who are critically needed to support the exhausted local health force.
  • Overall, none of Gaza’s 36 hospitals is fully functional.
  • Aid workers are struggling to respond within a continuously shrinking humanitarian space and a highly insecure operating environment. On 25 July, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli forces shot at their ambulance with live bullets while the crew was evacuating an injured person in Khan Younis.
  • On 23 July, one clearly marked UNICEF vehicle was struck by three bullets while waiting at a designated holding point near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint. It was one of two vehicles en route to pick up five children, including a baby, to reunite them with their father after their mother was killed.

Truckloads of aid to Gaza

Israel extends ban on Al Jazeera

The District Court of Tel Aviv has extended Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera Media Network for another 45 days, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The ban initially came in early May when Israel’s cabinet unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera in the country, immediately ordering the closure of its offices and a ban on the company’s broadcasts.

Jewish National Fund has lost its charity status in Canada. Why is this a big deal for Palestinians?

The New Arab reports: Canada’s Revenue Agency (CRA) has notified the Jewish National Fund (JNF) that it will be revoking the group’s charitable status over its support for the Israeli military.

A financial audit cited by the CRA found that the JNF’s projects violated Canada’s tax rules as the organization had used donations to build infrastructure for a foreign army in violation of Canada’s Tax Code.

The JNF is also heavily involved in land grabs in occupied Palestinian territories, often through covert operations to avoid political backlash and donor friction.

According to a Jewish Journal report in 2013, the organization owns 13 percent of occupied Palestinian territories and explicitly prohibits the sale or lease of land to non-Jews.

These settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major obstacle to peace and the two-state solution.

The acquisitions have a also been linked to increased settler violence and forced displacement of Palestinian families, exacerbating tensions and contributing to systematic efforts to entrench Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

Canada’s Green Party has previously called to revoke the group’s charitable status, saying in a petition: “Under the guise of environmentalism the JNF has forested over the ruins of Palestinian villages in an attempt to greenwash non-Jewish dispossession.”

The party added: “This includes ‘Canada Park’ which was built over top three destroyed Palestinian villages who more than 9,000 residents were expelled from their homes.”

Up to 25 percent of the Jewish National Fund’s budget was funded by Canadian taxpayers through tax credits provided for donations.

Without the ability to offer tax credits, the JNF may see a significant drop in donations from Canada, impacting its financial resources​.

The revocation of the JNF’s charity status in Canada deals a significant blow to the organisation, reducing its funding and highlighting the international community’s concerns over its activities in the West Bank.

NOTE: Vice President Kamala Harris regularly refers to how she collected money for JNF as a child.
RECOMMENDED READING: Unearthing Truths: Israel, the Nakba, and the Jewish National Fund

Embed from Getty Images

Israel slams UN expert, accuses her of ‘anti-Semitism’ for comparing Netanyahu to Hitler

Middle East Monitor reports: Israel accused a United Nations (UN) human rights expert of “anti-Semitism” on Friday after she liked a social media post comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.

Last week, Albanese commented on a post on X that featured a photo of Hitler surrounded by a crowd of people giving Nazi salutes over a shot of Netanyahu being greeted by members of the US Congress. “History is always watching,” Former UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber wrote in the post.

“This is precisely what I was thinking today,” commented Albanese.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry was quick to respond, criticizing the expert as “beyond redemption,” adding, “It is inconceivable that @FranceskAlbs is still allowed to use the @UN as a shield to spread anti-Semitism.”

The Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva also commented: “When a current @UN “expert” endorses Holocaust distortion…the system is rotten to its core.” It said it was “high time” for Albanese to be removed from her position.

US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council Michele Taylor commented in a post on X, “UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs’s comparison of Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler is reprehensible and anti-Semitic​. There should be no place for such dehumanizing rhetoric.”

Albanese responded to the criticism on Friday, stressing in a post on X: “The Memory of the #Holocaust remains intact and sacred thanks to people of conscience worldwide. Institutional rants and outbursts of selective moral outrage will not stop the course of #Justice, which is finally in motion.”

RECOMMENDED READING: How Israel twists antisemitism claims to project its own crimes onto Palestinians

Germany threatens Palestinian-American activist with prison for his talk on Palestine

Read Ali Abunimah’s comments on this talk and the arrest threat from Germany here.

Trump says Harris skipped Netanyahu speech because she ‘doesn’t like Jewish people’

Donald Trump has falsely accused Vice President Kamala Harris of skipping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress because she’s an anti-Semite.

“She doesn’t like Jewish people. She doesn’t like Israel. That’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s always going to be. She’s not going to change,” Trump said in a typically rambling speech at a religious convention in southern Florida.

Harris, whose husband is Jewish, did not attend Netanyahu’s speech as she had a pre-arranged campaign event in Milwaukee, according to reports.

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STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JULY 26:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – July 26: at least 39,764* (39,258 in Gaza* – 11,445 women (30%), 16,034 children as of June 17. [The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]

This is expected to be a significant undercount since thousands of those killed have yet to be identified – and at least 589 in the West Bank (~140 children). This does not include an estimated 10,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 46,848 Palestinian deaths.

Lancet: “Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death9 to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.

Ralph Nader earlier estimated 200,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza.

  • At least 45 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 18 from West Bank).
  • At least 41 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition**.
  • About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.
  • 2.15 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – July 26: at least 95,823 (including at least 90,403 in Gaza and 5,420 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how man Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – July 26: ~1,481 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 328 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza; 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.**

Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals. 

† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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