Tom Watling
The Independent / December 23, 2024
Oxfam says Israel is deliberately blocking aid trucks into northern Gaza intended for starving Palestinians.
At least 20 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes as missiles struck a tent camp in an official humanitarian zone, local medics have reported.
One of the strikes hit a tent camp in the Al-Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
In the 14 months since Israel began its retaliatory air and ground offensive, it has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave.
The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
In its latest update, the Gaza health ministry put the total death toll at 45,317. At least 107,713 have been injured, they added.
The ministry said in the last 24 hours, 58 people were killed and 86 injured.
It comes as Oxfam said only around a third of its aid trucks carrying food and water intended for the Palestinians were allowed to enter northern Gaza over the last 10 weeks.
The charity claimed the Israeli military were engaging in “deliberate delays and systematic obstructions” to the aid vehicles, which are intended to deliver help to starving Palestinian civilians.
Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory, told Al-Jazeera:
“After 14 months of relentless bombardment and starvation of the entire population, some people are acting out of desperation and there’s absolute chaos in Gaza right now.
“Some people are asking their kids not to play, because they will get dizzy since they’re not eating and drinking enough. Imagine asking your five-year-old not to play while already there’s all this death and destruction around.”
Tom Watling is a General Reporter for The Independent
