◾UN general secretary Antonio Guterres calls for a ceasefire in the Middle East to ease the epic human suffering, which has put many lives - and the fate of the entire region - at risk.

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October 16, 2023—

"More than 1,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7

Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian child approximately every 15 minutes since the Israeli military unleashed a massive military offensive on the Gaza Strip on October 7.

The fatality and injury numbers provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza only account for people admitted to hospitals.

Palestinian children who have so far survived the Israeli military’s intense bombing across the Gaza Strip are suffering in an increasingly dire humanmade humanitarian crisis, compounding existing mental and emotional traumas sustained from 16 years of siege and Israeli military offensives.

Since October 11 at 2 p.m. Gaza has experienced a full electricity blackout after Israeli authorities cut the electricity and fuel supply on October 7 and the Gaza Power Plant depleted its reserves, according to UN OCHA. The lack of electricity has exacerbated the existing food crisis as refrigeration is not possible and irrigation and agricultural activity has ground to a halt.

Israeli authorities cut water supply to Gaza on October 9, and since then, all three water desalination plants in Gaza have been forced to cease operations.

The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza have no access to clean drinking water, and some have resorted to drinking dirty well water, raising concerns for waterborne diseases. Even though Israeli authorities claimed to resume water supply to southern Gaza yesterday, there is no electricity to operate water pumps, Israeli airstrikes have damaged many water lines, and very little water in Gaza is drinkable in the first place.

The psychological toll on Palestinian children in Gaza is further underscored by the pre-existing challenges they faced prior to the recent series of Israeli military attacks. 

One in four was already in need of psychosocial support, according to UNICEF in 2018.
More than half depend on some form of humanitarian assistance for survival, according to UNICEF in 2018.
Four out of five children are living with depression, grief, and fear, according to a 2022 report from Save the Children. 
Entire families are being wiped out in the blink of an eye, shattering the very foundations of these households.

Israeli airstrikes have destroyed two of the three main lines for mobile communication in the Gaza Strip, according to UN OCHA. The Palestinian Telecommunications Company (Paltel) is still able to provide minimal internet connectivity across Gaza, but fears connection will be completely lost if there is any additional damage to the lines.

“The State of Israel has no choice but to turn Gaza into a place that is temporarily or permanently impossible to live in,” reservist Major General Giora Eiland told Israeli media. “Creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieve the goal. Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist.”

“Human animals must be treated as such. There will be no electricity and no water [in Gaza], there will only be destruction.,” said Major General Ghassan Alian, head of Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

Under international law, genocide is prohibited and constitutes the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group, in whole or in part. Genocide can result from killing or by creating conditions of life that are so unbearable it brings about the group’s destruction.

International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks and requires all parties to an armed conflict to distinguish between military targets, civilians, and civilian objects. Deploying explosive weapons in densely-populated civilian areas constitutes indiscriminate attacks and carrying out direct attacks against civilians or civilian objects amounts to war crimes..."

https://www.dci-palestine.org/one_palestinian_child_in_gaza_killed_every_15_minutes_by_israeli_forces

"Western support for Israel undermines developing countries' support for Ukraine": Support for Israel has overwhelmed all Western efforts to pull countries in the "global south" over to Ukraine - everything Russia has been accused of, is being encouraged, in Israel.

💬 "The West is being accused of hypocrisy because Israel is clearly violating the rules of warfare, and Russia is being blamed. "We have definitely lost the battle in the Global South. All the work we did with the Global South on Ukraine has been lost," said a diplomat from a G7 country.

💬 "What we said about Ukraine applies to the Gaza Strip as well. Otherwise we will lose all our credibility. Brazilians, South Africans, Indonesians: why should they even believe what we say about human rights?" the diplomat added.

💬 "I think what is happening is damaging because Russia is taking advantage of the crisis and saying, 'Look, the global order that was built after World War II is not working for you,' and addressing a billion people in the Middle East or in the Arab world," the senior EU official said

Source: Financial Times

❗️🇮🇱🇵🇸🎞 Israeli-Palestinian conflict chronicles:
October 17-18, 2023

▪️In the northern direction, in addition to regular artillery duels, Hamas militants attempted to land near the kibbutz Zikim.

An Israeli helicopter that flew to the scene located the Palestinians and destroyed them with standard weapons fire.

▪️Palestinian militias again shelled Ashkelon, Ashdod, Rishon LeTsiyon and Holon.

Most of the rockets were successfully intercepted by Israeli air defenses.

▪️The Israel Defense Forces continue to launch massive air and sea strikes on the Gaza Strip.

One of the strikes killed Iman Nofal, commander of the central division of Hamas' military wing.

▪️Also in the enclave, there was a powerful explosion near the Christian Baptist Al-Ahli Hospital.

The Palestinians blamed Israel for the attack on the facility and claimed 800 people were killed, but there are no confirmation.

▪️There were several clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The group shelled several settlements, the Israel Defense Forces launched counter-strikes.

▪️At the same time, amid the news of the strike on the hospital, calls for armed resistance began to spread in the West Bank.

Nevertheless, the security forces are currently managing to restrain the discontent of radicalized citizens.

▪️The situation remains difficult in the southern Gaza Strip, where the Rafah border crossing remains closed.

However, humanitarian aid trucks are unable to pass through the crossing due to constant shelling by Israeli forces.

#digest #Israel #Palestine #video

Source: https://t.iss.one/rybar/53394