Date: October 23, 2023
Time: 19:00 local time
Original Language: Arabic
For the 18th Consecutive Day The Toll of Victims and Crimes in the Israeli Aggression on Gaza
Firstly: Victims of the aggression
The number of martyrs has reached more than 5100, including:
· 1973children
· 1023women
· 18journalists
· 187elderly individuals
· 24employees of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees)
· 37medical personnel and paramedics
· 8civil defense personnel.
40%of the martyrs are children.
70% of the victims are children, women, and the elderly.
More than 15,300 people have been injured, including 2,055 children and 1,119 women, with 217 elderly individuals. Some have suffered severe chemical and internationally prohibited weapon injuries.
1,600reports of missing individuals remain under the rubble of their homes, including 830 children, due to the civil defense’s limited equipment for rescuing them from residential areas turned into graves.
For the first time, hundreds of martyrs are being buried in mass graves due to their dismembered remains making it impossible to identify their features.
Secondly: Forced displacement
The number of people forcibly displaced has reached one and a half million citizens, half of whom are children and women. Half of them are located in 222 schools and shelters, with most in UNRWA schools, while the other half is hosted in government schools, mosques, churches, and the homes of relatives and friends.
Thirdly: Massacres against families
Israeli occupation forces have committed 623 massacres against Palestinian families by destroying and collapsing their homes over the heads of their inhabitants. Among these, 57 families have been erased from the civil registry, while the remaining families have lost at least five of their members, resulting in around 4,000 martyrs. Hundreds of them are still under the rubble. There has been extreme terror and intimidation of all civilian residents of Gaza, totaling 2.3 million, including one million children and half of them are women.
Fourthly: Destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure
.1Half of citizens’ homes and civilian structures have been destroyed or significantly damaged.
· Israeli occupation forces completely destroyed 30,000 residential units, and 165,000 suffered partial destruction.
· Most residential towers have been destroyed, and their residents evacuated in Gaza.
.2 Destruction of civilian infrastructure:
· 30schools have been destroyed, and 176 schools have sustained various damages, including 20 UNRWA schools.
· 69attacks on hospitals have resulted in 7 hospitals going out of service, including the Al-Muamaladani Hospital, where nearly 500 martyrs were killed directly during its bombing, while hundreds of patients and displaced individuals were inside.
· 20health centers have ceased operations.
· 24hospitals are threatened with evacuation and bombing in their vicinity, causing varying levels of damage.
· 5bakeries have been destroyed.
· 7 water wells have been destroyed.
· 23mosques and churches have been damaged.
· Dozens of media offices and civil institutions have been destroyed, including the office of The International Commission “Hashd”
· Hundreds of commercial shops and economic establishments have been destroyed.
· Approximately 52 fishing boats have been destroyed.
· Thousands of agricultural dunums, bird and animal farms have been damaged.
· Water, electricity, sewage networks, and roads have sustained significant damage.
· 50ambulance vehicles and 3 civil defense vehicles have been damaged.
Fifthly: The blockade and collective punitive measures
The Israeli occupation state has cut off electricity and water from Gaza. The power station has stopped working on the fifth day of the aggression due to the depletion of industrial fuel.
A crisis has emerged in securing water, with a shortage of safe drinking water. Fuel has run out from the power generators in hospitals, endangering the lives of the wounded, patients, especially cancer patients, kidney patients, and children in nurseries.
Fuel shortages have impacted all service facilities, especially water well operation and sewage stations, as well as water lifting for multi-story buildings.
Medicines and medical supplies have run out of hospitals, leading to surgeries being conducted without anesthesia.
There has been severe overcrowding to obtain a bottle or gallon of water and a scarcity of food.
UNRWA employees have withdrawn from shelter centers in the northern governorates and Gaza City due to threats from the Israeli occupation forces, leaving around 400,000 people without aid or services.
Crossings have been closed, preventing the evacuation of the wounded and the entry of humanitarian, medical, and relief aid and fuel shipments. On the 16th and 17th days of the aggression, only 34 trucks were allowed in, covering 1% of the humanitarian needs.
The International Commission “Hashd”affirms that the toll of this aggression reflects the Israeli occupation forces’ disregard for and violation of international humanitarian law, the rules of war, and the Geneva Conventions, and it has turned civilian populations and civilian structures into military targets. They have committed acts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, in violation of the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions, and the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. This has been aided by the American bias and that of some European countries, which have given them the green light to continue the aggression and commit the aforementioned international crimes, while the United Nations and the world’s states have failed to protect civilians and their structures and stop the aggression.
The International Commission “Hashd” calls on the United Nations and the people of the world, countries, and nations to urgently and seriously act to provide international protection for civilians, stop the war of extermination and destruction against the population in Gaza, and support the struggle and rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
