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20-08-2024
GAZA CITY/ KHAN YOUNIS: Israeli forces wounded a Palestinian journalist, covering the expanding ground invasion of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, after shooting her in the back, according to local media reports.
Israel’s military said its soldiers are operating in central Deir el-Balah, which has so far largely been spared from ground fighting, further forcing Palestinians into just 11 percent of the Gaza Strip.
US President Joe Biden said a ceasefire is “still possible” as Israel insisted on remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor, the entire border area between Gaza and Egypt, a point of contention in the ongoing negotiations.
At least 40,099 people have been killed and 92,609 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.
Here in southern Gaza, we’ve been documenting the damage to underground water wells, tanks and pipe network as a result of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, as it nears its 11th month.
We spoke to engineer Salam Shurab about the situation in Khan Younis. He told us that the water share per capita has fallen sharply and that on the best of days, it does not go beyond seven to eight litres of water per person.
He also told us that four out of the five major tanks in the city have been destroyed.
The destruction does not stop with these wells and tanks, however.
It extends to water distribution networks all across the city. The municipality is facing great difficulty in getting them working again. Pumping water to the city’s residents is now close to impossible.
This means people in Gaza are struggling to get their basic water needs met.
Even those Palestinians in Gaza who have not been killed in this war are barely surviving. On top of the missiles, bombs and bullets, Israel has created countless other causes of death in every part of the Gaza Strip.
Top among them, the destruction of infrastructure and the dangerous health hazards they create.
Mohamed Saleh, the director of al-Awda Hospital, is calling for urgent deliveries of fuel to the facility.
“The lives of patients are now hanging by a thread, especially as we are the only facility offering orthopedic treatment,” he told media.
“All surgical operations, 56 in total, have been postponed. If fuel is not delivered soon, all these patients will develop gangrene and inflammation and ultimately have their limbs amputated or lose their lives. In addition, all delivery procedures, particularly emergency C-sections, will be affected. Fuel must be delivered to the hospital without delay.”
Earlier, we reported that officials at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is also located in northern Gaza, have warned that the facility will stop working within the next 24 hours due to a lack of fuel and medicines.
As a result of the severe shortage of fuel, al-Awda hospital is shutting down.
This facility is one of the main hospitals here in the northern Gaza Strip that provides medical care for patients and wounded people. We spoke to its director, Dr Mohamed Saleh, and he told us about the dire situation here. He told us also that if this hospital does not receive fuel, it will shut down and will be out of service in the next 24 hours.
We also spoke to patients here, one of whom was a woman who said she has pain in her kidneys but is unable to get an ultrasound scan due to a lack of electricity.
This fuel shortage is threatening thousands of lives here in the northern Gaza Strip and if this hospital shuts down, it will be a medical catastrophe. (Al Jazeera)
