The Saudi Council of Ministers has condemned the continuation of genocidal massacres against the Palestinian people.

The session headed by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman reiterated its demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the protection of unarmed civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The council also stressed the necessity of activating international accountability mechanisms for the continuous Israeli violations of international humanitarian law and international legitimacy resolutions.

This came as Gaza’s health ministry reported that at least 38,794 people in the Palestinian territory have been killed since Israel launched its war on October 7, 2023.

The toll includes 81 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The ministry added that another 89,364 people have been wounded in more than nine months of attacks.

Israeli forces have continued to hit UN-run facilities sheltering civilians.

UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, said that 70 percent of its schools in Gaza have been bombed during the war, and that the vast majority of them, 95 percent, were being used as displacement shelters at the time they were attacked.

At least six schools were targeted in the past 10 days.

Dozens of families have been left without shelter and dozens of Palestinians have been killed.

Israeli attacks have killed 500 health workers in Gaza since October, including several specialised doctors.

The specialist doctors killed include a plastic surgeon specialising in wound care, a reconstructive surgeon, an obstetrician/gynaecologist, an orthopaedic surgeon, a fertility doctor, and the only liver transplant doctor in Gaza.

Hassan Hamdan, a plastic surgeon who specialised in wound reconstruction, was killed along with 12 members of his family earlier this month after coming out of retirement to treat victims of the war.

His son, Osama Hamdan, an orthopaedic surgeon, was on duty in the emergency room at Nasser Hospital when he received the call. His wife and two sons – aged three and five – were among those killed.

Adel Abdel-Ghafar, a political analyst, opined that Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is punishing Palestinians collectively in Gaza in the absence of a victory to present to his own constituency.

“It is clear that this is less about eradicating Hamas and more about the collective punishment of Palestinians,” Abdel-Ghafar, Director of the foreign policy and security programme at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, stated.

The destruction of schools, mosques, churches, historical archives, among other institutions, he said, is a form of collective punishment aimed at eradicating the collective memory of Palestinians.

“Netanyahu can’t go back to his constituency and sell a ceasefire without coming out with some sort of win – and so far there has not been a major win – so the continued destruction of Gaza is his own win,” he added.

Human Rights Watch Says Hamas-led groups Committed War Crimes On October 7

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a new research detailing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas-led Palestinian armed groups on October 7 in Israel.

The HRW said that Hamas fighters led four other armed groups in attacks against 19 kibbutzim and 5 moshavim (cooperative communities), the cities of Sderot and Ofakim, two music festivals, and a beach party on October 7.

HRW said dozens of serious human rights violations occurred on October 7 including “murder, hostage-taking, and other grave offenses”.

“The Hamas-led assault on October 7 was designed to kill civilians and take as many people as possible hostage,” said Ida Sawyer, crisis and conflict director at HRW.

Israel’s ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of October 7 amounted to the war crime of collective punishment, HRW also said, exacerbating Israel’s 17-year illegal blockade of Gaza and its crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.

In response, Hamas rejected “the lies and blatant bias” towards Israel and demanded HRW withdraw its report and apologise.

“The Human Rights Watch report adopted the entire Israeli narrative and moved away from the method of scientific research and the neutral legal position, and became more like an Israeli propaganda document,” Hamas said in a statement.