Intense and indiscriminate shelling has forced more than half of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes. (Photo: Internet).
This Friday, Israeli troops tightened the siege of the Gaza Strip, where the number of Palestinians killed since Israeli bombing began exceeds 9,000, according to the latest information.
According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 3,700 Palestinian minors died in the 25 days of attacks, the AP agency said.
The intense and indiscriminate bombings have led to this More than half of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million residents were forced to leave their homes. Food, water and fuel are in short supply due to the Israeli blockade and overwhelmed hospitals warn they are on the verge of collapse.
Following pressure from the international community, Israel has allowed more than 260 trucks carrying food and medicine to enter the country through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.
But that’s what helpers say They are not enough in a long-suffering enclave that has already been struggling economically and socially for years because of Israeli policies and that, before the current offensive, received hundreds of trucks a day carrying humanitarian aid necessary for its residents’ survival.
Israel: “No fuel will enter Gaza”
Benyamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed at the end of the meeting between the prime minister and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel will not allow fuel to enter the Gaza StripANSA reported.
According to some reports cited by the local press, the issue was not even raised during the meeting.
On Thursday, the army announced that Gaza hospitals would be supplied with fuel once the fuel ran out, but the prime minister denied this.
Israel is sending thousands of Palestinian workers back to the bombed Gaza Strip
Israel began repatriating to the Gaza Strip thousands of Palestinian workers who were in Israeli territory at the time of the Hamas attacks on October 7, which left about 1,400 people dead.
“Thousands of workers stranded in Israel since October 7 have been returned to Gaza,” said Hicham Adwan, head of Gaza border crossings.
According to the Israeli authorities Around 18,500 Palestinians from Gaza had work permits in Israel when the current escalation of the conflict broke out. The workers were dropped off in buses near Gaza and walked to the enclave’s southern border via the Kerem Shalom border crossing.reported the Times of Israel newspaper.
That’s what human rights groups say The workers had their residency permits revoked and all traces of their status erased from records, leaving them defenseless and in legal limbo.
The United Nations said it was “gravely concerned” by Tel Aviv’s decision to send Palestinian workers back to the Gaza Strip, which has been besieged by massive bombings and a military advance.
“I don’t think I need to explain the gravity of the situation. “These people are being returned to this incredibly difficult and dangerous situation, and we don’t know where or if they still have shelter.”said Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the United Nations human rights office.
According to data discussed at a meeting of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva, the 160,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who had work permits in Israel have lost them, as have 20,000 Gazans who were able to enter Israel every day work purposes.
“We used to serve them, work for them, in houses, restaurants and markets for the lowest salaries, and yet now they have humiliated us.”said Jamal Ismail, a worker in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
“Israel breaks off all contact with Gaza. “There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza,” said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. “Gaza workers who were in Israel on the day the war broke out will be returned to Gaza.”
Since the escalation began on October 7, Israel has continuously bombarded the Palestinian coastal enclave and launched a ground offensive that has killed more than 9,200 Palestinians, almost half of them children, according to Gaza health authorities.
UN officials say More than 1.4 million of Gaza’s approximately 2.3 million residents have been displaced.
UN: Alarming violation of Palestinian rights in West Bank, violence among settlers on the rise
The United Nations said this Friday that the situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is “alarming and urgent” due to increasing human rights violations against Palestinians in these areas, which have been hit by a surge in violence since the beginning of the year. and has gotten worse in the last few weeks.
“While significant attention has been paid to attacks within Israel and the escalation of hostilities in Gaza since October 7, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is alarming and urgent given an increase in multiple violations of the law “Palestinian human rights are being violated there “We are protected,” said spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Liz Throssell.
The official said this Since October 7, more than 130 Palestinians, including 41 children, have been killed in the West Bank. He said 124 people died at the hands of Israeli security forces and another eight died in settler attacks. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed.
“Little is said about these victims due to the extraordinary violence of the attacks in Gaza and the number of victims in the thousands, but airstrikes have also occurred in the West Bank and war tactics are being used in security operations,” he said. United Nations Office for Human Rights spokesperson Liz Throssell.
“Israeli forces have increasingly used military tactics and weaponry in security operations, including an operation this evening to bomb the Jenin refugee camp. Security operations are subject to international humanitarian lawthat prohibits the intentional use of lethal force unless absolutely necessary to protect life,” Throssell recalled.
He added that “Settler violence, already at record levels, has increased dramatically, with an average of seven attacks per day. Firearms were used in more than a third of these attacks. “We have documented that in many of these incidents the settlers were accompanied by members of the Israeli Defense Forces or that the settlers wore uniforms and carried military assault rifles.”
The spokesman said: “Along with the virtual impunity for settler violence, “We fear that armed settlers are acting with the connivance and cooperation of the Israeli armed forces and authorities.”.
He also stressed that “entire communities are being forcibly displaced from their land as a result of this violence.”
According to Throssell, since October 7, “approximately 1,000 Palestinians from at least 15 ranching communities have been forcibly evicted from their homes.”
“Under these circumstances, Settler violence could amount to forced population relocation, a serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. As an occupying power, Israel has a duty to ensure the safety and protection of the occupied population.”
He explained that in repeated incidents, armed settlers had given Palestinian communities an ultimatum to leave their homes or risk being killed. A frightening example of the intimidation these communities face are leaflets with threatening messages left by settlers in Palestinian vehicles, ordering them to leave the country or risk being “eliminated.”
Throssell emphasized this “Despite hundreds of settlers taking part in this daily violence, Israeli forces have arrested only two settlers since October 7 for attacking Palestinians and killing a Palestinian farmer.”
In contrast, he added, Israeli forces have arrested nearly 2,000 Palestinians.
“We have received credible and consistent information indicating a further increase in ill-treatment of detainees, which in many cases could amount to torture.”. Two Palestinians arrested since October 7 have died in custody. “The detainees do not have the right to due process and judicial guarantees as required by international law,” denounced the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Throssell also warned against this “Many communities are essentially locked down, roads and checkpoints are closed and their freedom of movement is restricted (…). Some of the most vulnerable Palestinian communities are completely isolated and lack access to essential goods and services.”
Regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip, Throssell said: “In recent days there has been heavy shelling by Israeli forces against the refugee camp in Jabalia in the north, destroying dozens of residential buildings.”
“Similar bombings have occurred in other parts of the Gaza Strip, such as in the Bureij refugee camp, which destroyed dozens of buildings. “There are large numbers of casualties as well as reports of the use of explosive weapons with large-scale impact in some of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.”
