The Israeli occupation forces killed 34 Palestinians and wounded others on Monday in separate attacks on the Gaza Strip, coinciding with intense aerial and artillery bombardment and robotic bombing operations south of Gaza City, amid limited advances by its forces.
According to eyewitnesses and medical sources, Israeli attacks targeted the homes and tents of displaced people, as well as civilian gatherings in several areas of the Gaza Strip.
martyrs of starvation
This comes as the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced on Monday that the death toll from malnutrition resulting from Israel's ongoing starvation policy for nearly two years has risen to 425 Palestinians, including 145 children.
The ministry said in a statement that it had recorded "three deaths due to famine and malnutrition" in the past 24 hours, adding that this brings "the total number of deaths due to malnutrition to 425 martyrs, including 145 children," since October 7, 2023.
She noted that since the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared famine in Gaza last August, "147 deaths, including 30 children, have been recorded."
The organization announced, in a report on August 22, "the occurrence of famine in Gaza City (north)" and predicted that it would "spread to the cities of Deir al-Balah (central) and Khan Yunis (south) by the end of next September."
Appeal to Jordan
For its part, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip issued an urgent appeal on Monday to Jordan to provide the Strip with blood units and supplies to save the wounded and injured, warning that blood bank services could be halted within days due to a severe shortage.
In a statement, the ministry warned that blood bank services in the Gaza Strip are at risk of being disrupted within days due to a severe shortage of blood units and supplies, calling on Jordan to urgently send blood units.
She said, "We call on our brothers in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to urgently send blood units to save the lives of the injured and wounded who are in dire need of them."
It also called for the health sector to be provided with blood bags, blood transfusion kits, and testing equipment, noting that the stock in laboratory stores has reached zero, "which portends an imminent humanitarian disaster."
She pointed out that "the health sector needs at least 350 units of blood and blood components daily to meet the needs of patients and the wounded, in light of the increasing number of injuries and emergency surgeries."
"Al-Ghafri Tower"
In a related development, the Israeli occupation army destroyed the Al-Ghafri Tower west of Gaza City on Monday, shortly after warning Palestinians living there and in neighboring areas to evacuate ahead of its planned bombing.
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Eyewitnesses said that the Al-Ghafri Tower, which has 20 floors and is the tallest building in Gaza City, is home to hundreds of Palestinian families, as well as the headquarters of media outlets, media production companies, and other commercial enterprises.
In addition to the tower, the occupation army destroyed a number of nearby homes, while black smoke spread across an area of approximately one square kilometer, creating a state of panic and fear among the Palestinian residents of the area.
The area surrounding the tower is one of the most densely populated areas for displaced Palestinians, as it is located in the far west of the city, and tens of thousands of people have fled there from the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza and the northern Gaza Strip governorate.
The Israeli occupation army has recently intensified its bombing of residential towers, buildings, and Palestinian homes in Gaza City, as part of a plan to occupy the city. This comes amid fears of repercussions for approximately one million Palestinians, most of whom are displaced.
"unlivable"
For her part, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, warned that Israel's attack on Gaza City would cause immense harm to Palestinians and that the city could become uninhabitable.
"Israel is bombing Gaza with unconventional weapons," Albanese told reporters in Geneva on Monday. "They are trying to force the Palestinians out. Why? This is the last piece of Gaza they want to make uninhabitable."
"a stifling crisis"
In the same context, 80 Israeli economic experts warned that reoccupying the Gaza Strip would plunge Israel into a "suffocating economic crisis," according to Hebrew media on Monday.
The Israeli Walla news website reported: "More than 80 prominent economists, including former officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel, as well as academics, signed a statement warning of the dire economic consequences of the occupation of Gaza."
They warned that "this move will plunge Israel into a stifling economic crisis, weaken its financial capacity, lead to tax increases and cuts in social services, and jeopardize the country's credit rating." It will also "drag the Israeli economy into a dangerous decline," according to the statement.
The Israeli occupation army says that the operation to occupy Gaza City, which began on September 3, will lead to the occupation of the camps in the central region of the Gaza Strip, leading to the occupation of the entire Strip.
The Netanyahu government has not yet determined the future of the situation in Gaza, but Israeli analysts say it is pushing the situation toward an occupation of the Strip and the establishment of a military government.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 64,871 Palestinians dead and 164,610 injured, most of them children and women, and causing a famine that has claimed the lives of 422 Palestinians, including 145 children
