Violent bombardment on northern and central Gaza and suspicion of stealing body parts from Nasser’s graves

The areas of the central and northern Gaza Strip were subjected to heavy air and artillery bombardment since dawn on Friday, which led to the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians. Meanwhile, UN officials renewed their calls for more aid to enter the sector, which is heading towards famine and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

All international efforts have not succeeded in stopping the ongoing Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip for 203 days, which portends an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian Strip.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced today, Friday, that the death toll from the Israeli war had risen to “34,356 martyrs and 77,368 injuries” since October 7, 2023.

The ministry said in a statistical report on the 203rd day of the war: “The Israeli occupation committed 5 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, of which 51 martyrs and 75 injuries reached hospitals during the last 24 hours.”

It reported that "the toll of the Israeli aggression has risen to 34,356 martyrs and 77,368 injuries since the seventh of last October."

Raids concentrated in the center of the sector

Since dawn on Friday, the occupation has launched violent raids on several areas in the Gaza Strip, mainly concentrated in the center of the Strip, and directly targeting the displaced.

The Palestinian News Agency "Wafa" reported that the north of the Nuseirat and Al-Maghazi camps, the town of Al-Zawaida, the town of Al-Mughraqa (central), the town of Beit Lahia, and the eastern regions in the north of the Gaza Strip were subjected to intense air and artillery bombardment.

Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli occupation army blew up residential squares in the town of Al-Mughraqa.

The occupation aircraft also launched violent raids on Al-Safa Mosque in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, and on the Al-Zaytoun and Al-Shujaiya neighborhoods east of the city, in conjunction with occupation artillery shelling.

Local sources said that 3 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombing of a Red Cross building housing displaced persons on Al Wahda Street in central Gaza City.

A number of Palestinians were also killed and injured in an Israeli raid on a residential building on Al-Wahda Street in the center of Gaza City, in addition to another Palestinian being martyred west of the Gaza Valley area in the central Gaza Strip.

In Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, a fisherman was killed and another was injured by occupation forces’ fire while they were working off the city’s coast.

Stealing organs from corpses

In this context, the mass graves discovered in the Gaza Strip, especially those discovered in the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Strip, continue to dominate the catastrophic humanitarian scene in the Strip.

In this context, the Director of the Civil Defense Supply and Equipment Department in the Gaza Strip, Muhammad Al-Mughir, presented during a press conference on Thursday a video clip showing some of the bodies of victims of mass graves, as they showed signs of torture and being shackled with plastic restraints.

Al-Mughir said that the Gaza Civil Defense crews "found some bodies with their hands tied, the abdomen open and stitched in a way that contradicts the usual methods of suturing wounds in the Gaza Strip, which raises suspicions about the disappearance of some human organs."

He added: "The body of a citizen was also spotted wearing operational clothing, which raises doubts about his burial alive."

In the same regard, he pointed out that "the body of a girl with her arms and legs amputated was spotted, and she was wearing operating room clothes, which raises doubts about her being buried alive."

He considered that all previous evidence "indicates that the occupation committed crimes against humanity and carried out field executions on the campus of Nasser Hospital, so we demand that an international investigation be quickly opened into this matter."

During the same press conference, the Director of Civil Defense in Khan Yunis, Yamen Abu Suleiman, announced, “Three mass graves were detected in Nasser Hospital, containing 392 bodies, some of which showed signs of torture, which are other indicators of suspicions of carrying out field executions, and that some of them were buried alive.”

He stated that "among the bodies, 165 were unidentified and could not be identified due to the occupation changing the appearance of the special signs to identify and mutilate the bodies."

Famine worsens

On the other hand, Karl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program, said Thursday that the northern Gaza Strip is still heading toward famine.

Skaw called for allowing larger and more diverse amounts of aid to enter the Strip, calling on Israel to provide direct access from the port of Ashdod via the Erez crossing.

The UN official added: "We would like to use Ashdod, not only for wheat, but also for other goods, and from there we go directly to Erez, which is an hour and a half away by car, instead of going to Kerem Shalom."

The United Nations is holding talks with the United States regarding the establishment of a floating dock to allow the delivery of aid coming by sea directly from Cyprus to Gaza. But UN officials said sea access was no substitute for land deliveries, which should remain the focus of relief operations.