Al Mayadeen – August 27, 2024
Day 326 of Israeli genocide in Gaza: 40,476 killed, 93,647 injured
The Israeli occupation continues killing civilians in Gaza, including women and children, while obstructing rescue crews' paths, leaving thousands stuck beneath the rubble.
On day 326 of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the total number of Palestinians killed since the Israeli onslaught started on October 7 has risen to 40,476, and those injured to 93,647, according to the Gaza Health Ministry's daily report.
Over the past 24 hours, the Israeli occupation forces committed three massacres across the Gaza Strip, killing 41 Palestinians and injuring 113 others.
While a number of victims were transported to partially functioning hospitals and medical centers, others remain trapped beneath the rubble, with defense and rescue crews unable to reach them, the statement pointed out.
The Israeli genocide is ongoing
In a related context, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that the Israeli drones have targeted homes in the southern and eastern sections of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City, resulting in several casualties.
Our reporter added that a violent Israeli airstrike targeted the vicinity of Nasser Hospital.
He also confirmed that one person was killed in an Israeli strike in the eastern part of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.
The bodies of two unidentified individuals have been retrieved from the Shakoush area, west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Moreover, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that an Israeli strike on a house in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza has caused multiple casualties, including both fatalities and injuries.
He mentioned that four were killed and several were injured in an Israeli airstrike on the Khan Younis camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Our correspondent pointed out that 30 Palestinians were killed Tuesday as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
This comes in parallel with fierce battles between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli occupation forces in eastern Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-326-of-israeli-genocide-in-gaza--40-476-killed--93-647-i
‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 325: As ceasefire talks falter, Israeli army orders evacuation of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital
The only running hospital in central Gaza is threatened with closure after an Israeli evacuation order amidst ongoing military operations in the area. Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations end in Cairo in the wake of Hezbollah’s retaliatory attack.
By Qassam Muaddi
Casualties
- 40,435 + killed* and at least 93,534 wounded in the Gaza Strip. The identities of 32,280 of the slain have been identified, including 10,627 children and 5,956 women, representing 60% of the casualties, and 2,770 elderly as of August 6, 2024. Some 10,000 more are estimated to be under the rubble*
- 646+ Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This includes 146 children.**
- Israel revised its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,140.
- 702 Israeli soldiers and officers have been recognized as killed, and 4096 as wounded by the Israeli army, since October 7.***
- * Gaza’s branch of the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed this figure in its daily report, published through its WhatsApp channel on August 26, 2024. Rights groups and public health experts estimate the death toll to be much higher.
** The death toll in the West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. This is the latest figure according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health as of August 25.
*** These figures are released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.” Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported on August 4, 2024, that some 10,000 Israeli soldiers and officers have been either killed or wounded since October 7. The head of the Israeli army’s wounded association told Israel’s Channel 12 that the number of wounded Israeli soldiers exceeds 20,000, including at least 8,000 who have been permanently handicapped as of June 1. Israel’s Channel 7 reported that according to the Israeli war ministry’s rehabilitation service numbers, 8,663 new wounded joined the army’s handicap rehabilitation system since October 7 and as of June 18.
Key Developments
- Gaza branch of Palestinian Health Ministry says death toll surpasses 40,435, with 93,534 wounded since October 7, including 33% children, 18.4% women, and 8.6% elderly; at least 115 Palestinian children born and killed by Israeli forces since October 7.
- Hezbollah declares it responded to Fouad Shukr assassination after launching rocket barrage and drone swarm targeting Israei military sites.
- Israel claims it disabled large Hezbollah attack with preemptive series of airstrikes, allegedly destroying thousands of rocket launchers.
- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denies Israeli preemptive attack, says group targeted military intelligence and Mossad headquarters outside of Tel Aviv.
- Israel orders evacuation of new areas in Deir al-Balah, including Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, forcing hospital to cease operations.
- Human Rights Watch urges International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s violations against medical staff in Gaza.
- Israel kills 15 Palestinians on Monday in airstrikes on houses and schools sheltering civilians.
- Israeli media reports Israeli army has been enlarging Netzarim corridor south of Gaza City, creating permanent stations for troops.
- Israeli forces raid Nablus and Qalqilya.
- Israeli forces kill Palestinian in Masafer Yatta and two Palestinians in Jenin.
- Israeli settlers attack Palestinian rural communities in Masafer Yatta, near Jericho, and north of Nablus, wounding at least two Palestinians, including a child.
- Israeli settlers start two new outposts in West Bank.
- Attempts to resume ceasefire talks after Hezbollah retaliation
Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Abu Habib, urged the European Union to pressure Israel to end its attacks on Lebanon and comply with UN resolution 1701. The resolution calls for the full cessation of hostilities, the deployment of Lebanese forces to Southern Lebanon, the parallel withdrawal of Israeli forces behind the Blue Line, the strengthening of the UN force (UNIFIL) to facilitate the entry of Lebanese Forces into the region and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River.
The Lebanese minister reportedly made his remarks during a conversation with the EU chief diplomat, Joseph Borrell, on Monday. According to reports, Borrell stressed “the importance of continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, as an entry to put a limit to the escalation in the region and avoid a large-scale war.”
The diplomats’ statements came a day after Hezbollah announced that it conducted its retaliation against Israel for the assassination of its top military commander, Fouad Shukr, in late July.
Hezbollah detailed in a statement that it had launched 320 Katyusha rockets on Israeli positions in order to “clear the way for the drones to cross safely towards the target in the depth of the entity [Israel],” adding that the operation was completed “with success.”
Israeli media quoted the Israeli army saying that Hezbollah’s attack is “thought to have targeted the Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv,” which would mean that the attack reached some 100 kilometers across the border.
Hezbollah denied Israeli claims regarding the targeting of thousands of rockets and launchpads in a later statement, saying that “all the drones left their bases in their appointed time and crossed the border safely towards that target,” asserting that Israel’s claims were “baseless.”
The secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said in a live speech on Sunday that Hezbollah had delayed its response to Israel’s assassination of Shukr to give a chance for ceasefire talks.
According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah had delayed its retaliation to Israel’s strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiya district and the assassination of Shukr on July 31 due to the ceasefire talks that began in mid-August, since “the entire purpose of [the Lebanese] front is to stop the aggression on Gaza.”
“After it became clear that Netanyahu was adding new conditions and that the Americans were complicit, we concluded that there was no longer any point in delaying our response,” Nasrallah added.
Meanwhile, the Israeli public broadcaster reported that Israel’s negotiating team returned from Cairo after a round of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators. Reports pointed out that an Israeli technical team remained in Cairo to discuss details of the ceasefire proposal.
For its part, Hamas reaffirmed its position on the talks in a statement, saying that it demands mediators pressure Israel into the implementation of the version of the proposal that Hamas had accepted in July, which includes a total Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israel currently insists on Netanyahu’s latest condition to maintain Israeli forces in the Philadelphi corridor, along the Gaza-Egypt border, and in the Netzarim corridor, south of Gaza City.
On Sunday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, said in an interview with CBS that Israel isn’t obligated to leave the Philadelphi corridor at the moment, but it agreed to reduce its troops there.
Deir al-Balah hospital ordered to evacuate amidst widespread infrastructure destruction
The al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, one of the four remaining functional hospitals in the Gaza Strip, was included in an Israeli evacuation order on Monday, the Deir al-Balah municipality announced on Monday. The Gaza-based Palestinian health ministry said that the hospital continued to operate as of Monday afternoon local time, despite the Israeli evacuation order, and despite the proximity of Israeli troops.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is the only operating hospital in the overcrowded central governorate of Deir al-Balah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have been concentrated due to multiple displacements fleeing Israeli bombings. Currently, the hospital is treating some 100 resident patients.
The Israeli army has been reducing the area it had designated as a “safe zone” to less than 25 square kilometers, pushing more people into the already-crowded center of Deir al-Balah under extreme sanitary conditions.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel’s violations against medical staff in a statement on Monday. According to Gaza’s health ministry, Israel has killed some 500 health workers in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
In the same context, the union of the northern Gaza municipalities said in a joint statement on Monday that “the Gaza Strip is lacking the most fundamental services amidst a grave environmental catastrophe.”
The statement was made by a group of municipality representatives who spoke to the media in the center of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. According to their statement, Israel has destroyed over 1.5 million square meters’ worth of roads and streets, 35 water wells, five principal sewage water pumps, 200,000 meters of water pipelines, 100,000 meters of sewage pipelines, 5,000 meters of rain drainage pipelines, 57 power plants used to operate wells and sewage pumps, and about 95% of municipal machines and equipment used for garbage collection and public works.
The statement added that most of the municipal facilities in some 37 buildings were also destroyed by Israeli forces, in addition to 15 public parks and the main water desalination plant that used to serve all of the north of the Strip. The statement also said that Israeli forces have destroyed 45,000 residential units in the north, rendering 75% of inhabitants homeless. The municipalities also warned of floods and deteriorating sanitary conditions as winter approaches due to the destruction of infrastructure.
The municipal officials called on the international community to provide urgent assistance, especially repair parts, reconstruction material, and machine equipment. The officials called on international citizens to pressure their respective governments “to stop the war of genocide and destruction and save what remains of human life in the Gaza Strip.”
Five Palestinians killed in the West Bank over the weekend
Israeli forces killed five Palestinians over the weekend in the occupied West Bank. Late on Sunday, Israeli forces opened fire on a car traveling between Jenin and Salfit in the northern West Bank, killing two men. Israeli forces withheld their bodies. The men were identified as Musaab Mqasqas, 17, and Odai Abu Naaseh, 27. The Israeli army claimed that the men tried to car-ram its soldiers near the Israeli settlement of Ariel.
On Monday, Israeli forces opened fire on a Palestinian in Yatta, south of Hebron. The man was identified as Eyad Najjar, 48, and was reportedly on his way to work inside Israel. On Sunday, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission announced the death of Zaher al-Raddad, 19, in Israeli captivity.
Al-Raddad was wounded during an Israeli raid on Jenin in late June. A video circulated of al-Raddad tied to the front of an Israeli jeep while wounded during the raid.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed the death of Ahmad al-Anteer, 18, who was wounded by Israeli forces earlier, alongside two other youth at the Jalameh checkpoint north of Jenin.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian rural communities in Masafer Yatta in the south Hebron hills, injuring an unspecified number of people. In Beit Furik, east of Nablus, Israeli settlers attempted to install a new settlement outpost on Palestinians’ private land, clashing with inhabitants. Local sources said that the settlers failed and left after attacking houses with rocks, injuring one Palestinian.
In al-Awja, north of Jericho, Israeli settlers kidnapped a Palestinian and beat him severely, causing him serious injuries. The man was rescued and identified as Laith Aweinat, 34, from the village of Battir, near Bethlehem. His brother, Nader Aweinat, told Palestinian media that Laith had “bleeding injuries, swellings, and bruises all over his body, including his head and limbs, and he has difficulty in speaking.”
Since October 7, Israeli forces or settlers have killed 646 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 146 children.
The National News – August 25, 2024
Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo end with no breakthrough
Hamas and Israeli negotiators left Egypt after two days of negotiations failed to break the months-long deadlock
Hamza Hendawi
The latest push for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas ended in Cairo with no breakthrough, sources told The National, allowing the devastating war in the Palestinian enclave to continue and opening the door for further regional tension.
The two days of talks, brokered by mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar, ended on Sunday with Israel and Hamas still at odds over issues that include the return of displaced Palestinians to Gaza and the fate of a strip on the Egypt-Gaza border that Israel captured in May and is refusing to withdraw from, the sources said.
There were also differences between Israel and Hamas on the Palestinian detainees the militant group wants released in exchange for the hostages it holds. The sources said Israel has objected to the release of some high-profile Palestinians detainees and insists that others will be freed but only into exile abroad, not to their hometowns in the occupied West Bank or the Gaza Strip.
Negotiators from both sides left Egypt on Sunday evening, hours after a major escalation in fighting between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that underlined the urgent need for a peace deal to prevent the Gaza war from becoming a wider regional conflict.
The talks brought together CIA director William Burns, his Egyptian and Israeli counterparts, and the director of Israeli security agency Shin Bet. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman also participated in the Cairo negotiations.
Soon after the talks ended, Hamas said Israel had backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the border strip, the Salah Al Din corridor that is also known as the Philadelphi corridor, and had put forward new conditions, including the need to screen displaced Palestinians seeking to return to homes in Gaza's more heavily populated north once a ceasefire is in place.
Last week, Mahmoud Taha, Hamas head of media relations in Beirut, told The National that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would “not get anything from the resistance, and Hamas will not agree to any additional concessions”. Mr Taha called on regional allies to “widen the confrontation with Israel”.
According to the sources, Hamas has not moved on its core demands for a full Israeli withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire. Israel objects to both, arguing that it will not stop its military operations in Gaza before Hamas is eradicated and all the hostages are freed…..
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/08/26/no-breakthrough-in-latest-gaza-ceasefire-talks/
'Israel' withholding the bodies of 552 Palestinians: PPS
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) says the number excludes the bodies of Palestinian martyrs from the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported that the Israeli occupation has escalated its practice of withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs since launching its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people on October 7, 2023.
In a statement marking the Palestinian National Day for the Recovery of Palestinian and Other Arab War Victims' Bodies and the Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing, observed on August 27, the PPS revealed that "Israel" has withheld 149 bodies over the past 11 months, excluding the bodies of the martyrs from the Gaza Strip.
It also emphasized that the current number of withheld bodies "represents more than half of those withheld since 2015."
The PPS estimated that the number of martyrs' bodies from Gaza being held by "Israel" is in the hundreds, though the Israeli occupation entity has yet to release official figures.
According to the statement, the total number of withheld bodies stands at 552 in the so-called "Cemeteries of Numbers" and refrigerated morgues. Among them are nine women, 32 prisoners, 55 children under the age of 18, five Palestinians from '48 occupied Palestinian territories, and six from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
The "Cemeteries of Numbers" are cemeteries classified by numbers rather than names, where bodies of martyrs are withheld to avoid autopsies that would expose Israeli crimes.
The statement also noted that "Israel" has intensified its arrest campaigns in the West Bank in parallel with its ongoing aggression on Gaza.
Skeletons, decomposed; 'Israel' returns bodies of 89 Gaza martyrs
Earlier this month, the Israeli occupation military returned the bodies of 89 Palestinian martyrs it abducted amid the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, confirmed the Gaza Government Media Office, emphasizing that the occupation forces delivered the remains of the martyrs as skeletons and decomposed bodies.
In a statement, the Media Office explained that the occupation delivered the bodies of these martyrs in only 35 shrouds, with 13 bodies placed in one shroud, 22 bodies in another, and the remaining martyrs' remains scattered in several other shrouds.
According to the statement, the Israeli occupation forces, throughout 304 days of the genocide, abducted more than 2,000 bodies of martyrs and deceased Palestinians from dozens of cemeteries in the Gaza Strip provinces, which they bulldozed and destroyed with military machinery.
At the time, Civil Defense Director Yamen Abu Suleiman told AFP that Israeli occupation authorities did not provide any information about the bodies, including their names or where they were found or taken from.
"We do not know if they are martyrs [killed in Gaza] or prisoners from [Israel's] jails", he added.
The Media Office recalled that the Israeli occupation repeated this crime multiple times during the genocide, including previously exhuming graves in Khan Younis, Jabalia, and the al-Tuffah neighborhood, and abducting some martyrs' bodies.
The statement confirmed that the Israeli occupation is still withholding dozens of bodies, highlighting that the transfer of bodies to unknown locations and mutilating them is considered a war crime and a crime against humanity, punishable by international law.
The Gaza Government Media Office called on international and UN organizations to condemn these brutal and heinous crimes.
It pointed out that the recent crime against humanity adds to a series of crimes committed by the Israeli occupation military after being given the green light by the United States to kill civilians, children, and women.
The Media Office said it holds the Israeli occupation and the US administration fully responsible for these crimes and demands the formation of an entirely independent international investigative committee to probe the occupation army's abduction of the martyrs' bodies and the theft of their vital organs.
"Israel" has a history of abducting the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and deceased during its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
After stealing organs from some of them, the Israeli occupation handed over in late January the bodies of 100 martyrs that were stolen from hospitals and cemeteries in the Gaza Strip.
In late December, the Government Media Office in Gaza revealed that the Israeli occupation forces handed over the mutilated bodies of 80 martyrs after stealing their organs.
Hamas said "Israel's" delivery of bodies without identities "exacerbates the suffering of the families of martyrs and the missing, who seek to know the fate of their abducted children or to bury their martyrs in a dignified manner."
The bodies were later buried at the Turkish cemetery, near Khan Younis, the main city in the southern part of Gaza, AFP journalists reported.
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