Medical sources and eyewitnesses reported that 19 of the martyrs fell in Gaza City, where the occupation army has been waging a massive offensive for weeks as part of a plan to reoccupy the city and displace its residents.
In the Zeitoun neighborhood in southern Gaza City, 10 Palestinians, including seven civil defense officers, were killed and others injured in an Israeli attack targeting the Al-Falah School, which was sheltering displaced people.
In the Al-Daraj neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, Israeli shelling killed seven Palestinians and injured others after targeting a residential apartment. In the Al-Rimal neighborhood in the western part of the city, two Palestinians were killed and others injured when a house was bombed.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, two Palestinians were killed and others were injured in Israeli shelling, while another Palestinian was killed in a similar attack on a house in the Bureij refugee camp.
This escalation comes after the Israeli government approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan on August 8 to gradually reoccupy the Gaza Strip, starting with Gaza City, home to nearly one million people. Days later, the army launched a large-scale offensive that included the destruction of homes, residential buildings, civilian property, and displaced persons' tents, targeting hospitals, and conducting incursions.
Rashid Street closure
In a related development, the Israeli occupation army announced Wednesday morning its intention to close Rashid Street, the coastal road linking the north and south of the Gaza Strip, allowing only movement from Gaza City to the central and southern parts of the Strip via it.
"Rashid Street will be closed to traffic from south to north starting at 12:00 p.m.," army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on the X platform, adding that movement south would be permitted "without inspection" for those unable to evacuate the city.
For weeks, the army has intensified its bloody bombardment of Gaza City, bombing residential buildings there with the aim of forcing Palestinians to flee, in preparation for occupying the city. The army is persisting in its genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and continuing to implement its plan to occupy it, despite US President Donald Trump's unveiling of his plan last Monday to end the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his approval of the 20-point plan during a meeting with Trump at the White House on Monday. Doha said that the mediating powers, Qatar and Egypt, presented the plan to Hamas, and that the movement "acted responsibly and promised to study it."
Health warns of catastrophic conditions for the elderly
On the International Day of Older Persons, the Palestinian Ministry of Health warned of the "catastrophic" humanitarian and health conditions facing this group due to the Israeli blockade and aggression in the Gaza Strip, and the lack of food, medicine, and treatment.
The ministry said in a statement that elderly people in the West Bank also face significant difficulties accessing healthcare facilities due to Israeli checkpoints and restrictions.
According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics for 2023, the number of elderly people (aged 60 and over) in Palestine reached approximately 321,000, representing 6% of the West Bank population and 5% of the Gaza Strip population. The Ministry of Health indicates that 76% of them suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, which increases their need for regular healthcare.
The ministry called on the international community and humanitarian and human rights organizations to "assume their moral and legal responsibilities, exert immediate pressure to halt the aggression and blockade, and ensure access to food, medicine, and healthcare for the elderly in Palestine."
With American support, Israel continues its war of extermination in Gaza, which has so far resulted in the martyrdom of 66,097 Palestinians and the injury of 168,536, most of them women and children, amid a famine that has claimed the lives of 453 people, including 150 children.
