The Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, that the death toll from Israeli attacks since October 7 has risen to 31,923 with 74,096 people wounded.
It noted that in the past 24 hours, at least 104 Palestinians were killed and 162 injured.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, more than 100 aid workers have been killed and dozens wounded over the past week in eight attacks carried out by Israeli forces.
The media office said in a statement that the targeting of aid workers was part of Israel’s strategy to “perpetuate the policy of starvation and deepen famine on a broader scale.”
Dr Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO), disclosed that increasing numbers of children in Gaza are on the “brink of death” from acute hunger.
“What doctors and medical staff are telling us is more and more. They are seeing the effects of starvation; they’re seeing newborn babies simply dying because they [are] too low birth weight,” Harris told reporters in Geneva.
“Increasingly, we’re seeing children that are at the point, brink of death that need re-feeding,” she said.
Also, Harris revealed that medical teams in Gaza have also been admitting increasing numbers of dangerously underweight pregnant women.
The World Health Organization (WHO) published an infographic illustrating attacks on healthcare infrastructure in Gaza it has recorded between 7 October 2023 and 12 March 2024.
It said, “Since 7 October, WHO has documented 410 attacks on health care in the Gaza Strip. Attacks have resulted in 685 fatalities, 902 injuries, damage to 99 facilities and affected 104 ambulances.”
It added that two-fifths (38%) of attacks were in Gaza City, a quarter (23%) in North Gaza, and over a quarter (28%) in Khan Younis.
Israel Details Al-Shifa Military Operation
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military claimed to have killed “approximately 90 terrorists” and to have “questioned over 300 suspects” at the al-Shifa hospital medical complex in Gaza.
It says “an additional 160 suspects have been transferred to Israeli territory for further questioning.”
“IDF and ISA forces are continuing to conduct a precise operation against terrorists in the area of the Shifa hospital,” it noted.
It added, “Over the past day, the troops have eliminated terrorists and located weapons in the hospital area, while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s representative at the UN, Meirav Eilon Shahar, published a letter she sent to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, in which she set out details of Israel’s military operation at the al-Shifa hospital medical complex.
In the letter, she claimed that the operation is “based on concrete intelligence indicating the renewed use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists.”
She noted, “I would like to make it very clear that Israel did not issue any obligation for the patients and medical staff to evacuate the site. During the operation, terrorists have opened fire at IDF troops from within the hospital, and the IDF has responded.”
She added, “Terror funds intended for distribution to Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives, in addition to numerous weapons, were also located in the hospital.”
“The evidence uncovered, as well as undeniable proof of Hamas terrorists sheltering in the hospital compound, displays once again Hamas’ systematic abuse of hospitals and civilian infrastructure for its terrorist activities.
“Health facilities should never be compromised or exploited. In Gaza, hospitals are used to coordinate terrorist activities, to store weapons arsenals, or as headquarters for terrorist organizations. International law is clear, these protected sites can lose their protection if they are being used outside their humanitarian function, to commit acts harmful to the other side.”
Meirav Eilon Shahar
“I would … expect you to demand that Hamas cease the abhorrent use of innocent Palestinians as human shields,” the Israeli Diplomat urged.
“Israel will continue to act in accordance with international law in Gaza,” she asserted, adding, “We will do everything in our power to avoid harming the civilian population.”
“Meanwhile, the International Community must cease to stand aside while Hamas cynically and systematically abuses civilian infrastructure and healthcare facilities,” she stated.
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