Israel intensifies massacres, relaunches starvation policy in north Gaza: OIC

Israel has intensified its crimes against civilians in the northern Gaza Strip, especially during 8-14 October by reinstating its notorious starvation policy and intensifying massacres.

The Israeli occupation forces have isolated 4,00,000 Palestinians residing in the northern areas, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid to them, as monitored by the Media Observatory of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Israeli crimes against the Palestinians.

This period coincided with intensive shelling of homes and tents, especially the burning of displaced people living in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, which was targeted several times recently, in addition to Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, which the occupation forces threatened to depopulate, along with the Indonesian Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital.

Jabalia camp was also subjected to siege and shelling, in addition to Rufaida School and the Girls' School in Jabalia, along with intensive shelling that targeted the remaining homes in those areas.

Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported that there are 12,000 wounded people in need of urgent travel for treatment, 10,000 cancer patients facing the risk of death, and 3,000 patients with various chronic diseases who are deprived of treatment. Furthermore, more than 1.5 million people are suffering from infectious diseases due to the conditions of displacement.

The health situation in the Gaza Strip has become catastrophic under the weight of a full year of aggression, which has resulted in the closure of 20 hospitals (private and government) out of 35 hospitals, while the remaining 15 hospitals are operating partially, in addition to the exit of 80 health centers out of 90 from service.

Furthermore, there were the destruction of 130 ambulances, the martyrdom of 1,151 Palestinians, and the arrest of 310 others who work in the health sector, according to statistics covering the period from 7 October 2023 to the end of September 2024.

The number of Palestinian martyrs over the period of 8-14 October, was 389 martyrs, while the number of wounded was 1,403, and the number of martyrs since 7 October 2023 – 14 October 2024, was 43,043, and the wounded was 1,04,934.

In the West Bank, the occupation forces arrested 245 Palestinians in one week, caused extensive damage to infrastructure and property in the Far'a camp in Tubas, demolished eight houses in Hebron and Salfit, occupied three others in Hebron and Tulkarm, and demolished five water pools in Nablus and Jenin.

The occupation authorities have ordered the confiscation of the land on which the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, and converted it into a new settlement outpost comprising 1,440 housing units, in addition to expropriating lands belonging to the town of Kifl Haris. Ten dunums of agricultural land were bulldozed in Beit Ummar in Hebron.

Regarding the olive harvest season, the OIC Observatory documented that 46 Palestinian villages were subjected to continuous aggression by both the occupation forces and settlers as they prevented farmers from harvesting their crops and assaulted them, uprooted trees, cut off their branches before burning them, stole or destroyed crops, stole crop harvesting equipment, and blocked and tore up roads leading to agricultural lands.

The Observatory has documented raids on the villages of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Salfit, Ramallah, Hebron and Tulkarm, while dozens of other attacks are taking place that are difficult to monitor due to their widespread nature across various villages in the West Bank.

In terms of crimes committed by settlers, the number of documented raids carried out by settlers during the past week amounted to 60. Some of the incidents included settlers robbing a truck transporting goods in Deir Dibwan in Ramallah, attacking a water tanker and pouring its water on the road while stealing its equipment, and stealing 17 heads of sheep in Ramallah.  Settlers also damaged the water network in Bedouin communities in Al-Quds, and detained school students, preventing them from reaching Khan al-Ahmar School in Al-Quds.

While settlers storm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque almost daily, the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron has been suffering for more than a month from a ban on prayer in it in order to clear the place for settlers to perform their Talmudic rituals during the Jewish holidays.

Thus, the total number of Israeli crimes during the past week has reached 2,841.