Gaza carnage: +20 civilians killed as world urges Israel to allow aid
Shafaq News/ At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, Arab media outlets reported on Wednesday.
The casualties reportedly included 20 civilians in Gaza City and surrounding northern areas. Gaza's Health Ministry reported that since hostilities resumed on March 18, at least 1,928 civilians have been killed. The overall toll since October 7, 2023, now stands at 51,305 with more than 117,000 wounded.
The ministry also condemned a recent airstrike on Al-Durra Children's Hospital, reporting heavy damage to its intensive care unit and power systems. 'The occupation not only blocks medicine and food for Gaza's children but actively deprives them of life,' the ministry declared, calling for international action to protect medical infrastructure.
Global calls for humanitarian access have intensified, with Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, and the UK having issued a joint appeal, in which they demanded unrestricted aid deliveries into Gaza, insisting that 'humanitarian assistance must never be used as leverage.'
Since March 2, Israel has enforced a total blockade, cutting off food, fuel, medicine, and trade—measures it links to efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
In the West Bank and Jerusalem, tensions have continued to rise. Senior Hamas figure Abdul Rahman Shadid warned that expanding military operations, land confiscations, and settler violence are intensifying Palestinian resistance, describing the annexation of large areas in the West Bank and repeated raids in Jenin and Tulkarm as 'part of a wider strategy to displace the population.'
Shadid also condemned the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, calling current conditions 'unprecedented.' He cited the case of Mohammad Jamal al-Natsheh, whom he accused Israel of torturing and attempting to assassinate in detention, while international actors remain silent.
He further warned that Israeli actions at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Passover holiday could provoke widespread unrest. Calling for mass mobilization, al-Natsheh urged Palestinians to defend the holy site against what he described as efforts to 'Judaize' it.
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