In Occupied Palestine

Zionism in practice

Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land

08:00, on 07 January until 08:00, 08 January 2024

[Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group]

Gaza Strip

Armed Palestinian Resistance: Palestinian Resistance continued launching dozens of missiles towards the Green Line.

Air strikes: Heavy aerial bombardment on buildings, homes and many facilities.

Attacks: All over Gaza there are air strikes, heavy gunfire, tank and artillery shelling, as well as missiles fired from Israeli forces and military occupation, especially in Khan Yunis. The Israeli Navycontinues to fire missiles, targeting facilities and buildings along the shoreline of the whole of Gaza.

Victims:

249 people killed in Gaza brings the total number of deaths since 7 October to at least 23,084. With another 510 wounded, that figure has risen to 58,926. Fully accurate statistics are not available,due to insecurity menacing hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

OCHA Flash Update

Partners report that denials of co-ordinated movement requests are critically inhibiting time sensitive response.

For instance, on 8 January, a planned mission by OCHA and WHO to deliver urgent medical supplies to the Central Drug Store in Gaza City and Al–Awda Hospital in Jabalya, as well as planned missions to deliver vital fuel to water and sanitation facilities in Gaza City and the north, have been denied by the Israeli authorities. This marked the fifth denial of a mission to Al–Awda Hospital in Jabalya and Central Drug Store in Gaza City since 26 December, leaving five hospitals in northern Gaza without access to life-saving medical supplies and equipment. At the same time, the continued denial of fuel delivery to water and sanitation facilities is leaving tens of thousands of people without access to clean water and increasing the risk of sewage overflows, significantly heightening the risk of the spread of communicable diseases.

The intensifying offensive in Gaza’s Middle Area and Khan Yunis is causing rapidly rising casualties and having devastating consequences for tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom had already fled for safety from Gaza City and the North to the Middle Area.

An UNRWA warehouse was struck on 4 January, resulting in one fatality of a UN staff and subsequent detention of five UNRWA staff, three of whom were subsequently released while two remain detained. Humanitarian operations in Deir al Balah have also been severely curtailed with multiple critical installations – including warehouses, distribution centres, health centres and shelters – issued with new evacuation orders. Several bakeries supported by the UN and humanitarian partners have been forced to shut down operations in Deir al Balah, as a result of the fighting. As casualties rise, the ability to treat them continues to be in jeopardy, with three hospitals in the Middle Area and Khan Yunis – Al Aqsa, Nasser and Gaza European – at risk of closure due to the issuance of evacuation orders in nearby areas and the ongoing conduct of hostilities nearby.

On the morning of 8 January, MSF reported a shell broke through the wall of an MSF shelter housing over 100 staff and their families in Khan Yunis. Consequently, five people were injured, including a five-year-old child of one of its staff members who is in critical condition. MSF further noted that the shelter did not receive evacuation orders beforehand. MSF stated that they “condemn this latest attack which shows, yet again, that no one and nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

Deadliest incidents reported between 7 January and 8 January

On 7 January at about 13:30, six people, including two girls, were reportedly killed when a group of people, near the Customs police office, east of Khan Yunis, were struck.

On 7 January, during the night, ten people were reportedly killed and tens injured when multiple residential houses in Deir al Balah were struck.

On 8 January, at about 03:00, eight people were reportedly killed and tens were injured, including women and children, when a residential building in Al-Basa, west Deir al Balah, Middle Gaza, was struck. People are reportedly remaining under the rubble.

On 8 January, at about 09:00, UNRWA Preparatory School of Al Maghazi, Middle Gaza, which serves as a shelter for internally displaced people (IDPs) was struck. An unconfirmed number of fatalities and injuries were reported.

On 8 January, at about 12:30, five people were reportedly killed when a group of people in Al Zawayda, Middle Gaza were struck.

On 8 January, at about 09:10, four people, including children, were reportedly killed and tens injured when a residential unit near the Canada Hall, south Khan Yunis, was struck.

On 8 January, in the morning, eight people, including children, were reportedly killed in Al Manara neighbourhood, south–east of Khan Yunis. The ambulance crews were reportedly having difficulty entering the area.

On 7 January, at about 23:20, the College of Science and Technology in Qizan Al Najjar, Khan Yunis, was struck. On 8 January, the vicinity of Abu Bakr Al Siddiq School, also in Qizan Al Najjar, was surrounded and besieged by Israeli forces with an unconfirmed number of casualties reportedly trapped inside and around the school.

Displacement (Gaza Strip)

By the end of 2023, according to UNRWA, 1.9 million people, or nearly 85% of the total population of Gaza, were estimated to be internally displaced, including many who have been displaced multiple times, as families are forced to move repeatedly in search of safety. Nearly 1.4 million IDPs are sheltering in 155 UNRWA facilities across all five governorates; facilities are far exceeding their intended capacity. Rafah governorate is now the main refuge for those displaced, with over one million people squeezed into an extremely overcrowded space, following the intensification of hostilities in Khan Yunis and Deir al Balah and the Israeli military’s evacuation orders. Obtaining an accurate figure of the total number of IDPs remains challenging.

Some 220 incidents affecting UNRWA premises and people inside them have been reported since 7 October (some with multiple incidents affecting the same location), including at least 23 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. This includes 63 direct hits on UNRWA installations and 69 different UNRWA installations sustaining damage when a nearby object was hit. In total, at least 319 IDPs sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least another 1,135 were injured since 7 October.

Health care, including attacks

On 8 January at about 01:40, the European Hospital in Khan Yunis was struck by drones with no clear reports on casualties. This follows a number of direct hits to the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza on 7 January, forcing medical staff and patients to evacuate.

On 7 January, staff from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and OCHA visited the Al Aqsa Hospital, the only functioning hospital in the governorate of Deir al Balah in central Gaza. According to the hospital director, because of increasing hostilities and ongoing evacuation orders, most of the local health workers and about 600 patients have been forced to leave the facility to unknown locations. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) stated that their emergency medical team had been forced to cease life-saving and other critical activities at the hospital and leave the facility, as a result of increasing Israeli military activity.

According to a post from the WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, his staff witnessed “sickening scenes of people of all ages being treated on blood-streaked floors and in chaotic corridors.” The hospital reported immense needs, notably health workers, medical supplies, beds and the need to be protected from strikes and hostilities. The WHO team delivered medical supplies to support 4,500 patients needing dialysis for three months and 500 patients requiring trauma care. “Al Aqsa is the most important hospital remaining in Gaza’s Middle Area and must remain functional, and protected, to deliver its lifesaving services,” Dr. Ghebreyesus stated. “Further erosion of its functionality cannot be permitted – doing so in the face of such trauma, injury and humanitarian suffering would be a moral and medical outrage.”

According to WHO, as of 3 January, 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional; nine in the south and four in the north. Those in the north have been offering maternity, trauma, and emergency care services. However, they face challenges such as a shortage of medical staff, including specialised surgeons, neurosurgeons, and intensive care staff, as well as a lack of medical supplies such as anesthesia, antibiotics and pain relief medicines. Additionally, they have an urgent need for fuel, food, and drinking water. The situation of hospitals and the level of functionality depend on fluctuating capacity and minimum level of supplies that can reach the facilities. The nine partially functional hospitals in the south are operating at three times their capacity, while facing critical shortages of basic supplies and fuel. MoH in Gaza, occupancy rates are reaching 206 per cent in inpatient departments and 250 per cent in intensive care units.

Food security

The Famine Review Committee (FRC), activated due to evidence surpassing the acute food insecurity Phase 5 (Catastrophic threshold) in the Gaza Strip, warns that the risk of famine is increasing daily amid intense conflict and restricted humanitarian access. The FRC stated that, to eliminate the risk of famine it is imperative to halt the deterioration of the health, nutrition, food security, and mortality situation through the restoration of health, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. In addition, the FRC has called for the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of humanitarian space for delivering multi-sectoral assistance as vital first steps to eliminate any risk of famine.

Read much more here

West Bank

[Palestinian Monitoring Group]

Israeli Army attack – 2 families devastated: Jerusalem – evening, Israeli Occupation forces at the Beit Iksa checkpoint opened fire on two passing vehicles, killing a man, Muhammad Mazid Abu Eid, along with his wife, Duha Nabih Abu Eid, in one vehicle and a four-year-old girl, Ruqaya Ahmed Odeh Abu Dahuk Al-Jahalin, in the other.

Israeli Army attacks – 1 killed – 6 wounded: Ramallah – 09:15, Israeli forces, firing live ammunition stormed into Rawabi, Abwein, Aroura and Atara as well as the village of Jaljuliya, and the Nubani and Ajul farms. During the assaults, the Israeli military killed one person, Ahmed Mahmoud Hussein Muhareb, and wounded six others: 17-year-old Muhammad Abd al-Rahim al-Nubani, Faleh Abdel Wahab Mufleh, Mahdi Mahmoud Khalil Al-Subaih, Saleh Abd al-Wahab Nazzal, Mahdi Mahmoud Zuraiqi and Majdi Mahmoud Subaih. The Israeli military also invaded shops and examined surveillance-camera recordings.

Israeli Army attack – 1 taken prisoner – homes invaded: Ramallah – evening, the Israeli Army, firing live ammunition, stormed Ramallah and al-Bireh, invading homes and taking prisoner one person.

Israeli Army attack – agricultural sabotage: Hebron – 13:00, Israeli troops opened fire on, and terrorised, working farmers in the Wadi Ma’in area of Carmel village.

Israeli Army attack – 2 wounded (1 of them a child)– dawn, the Israeli military stormed Yatta, invading homes and wounding two people, one of them a child.

Home invasion – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 12:20–16:30, Israeli Occupation forces raided Hebron, invaded a home as well as a printing press, and took prisoner one person.

Home invasions: Hebron – dawn, the Israeli military raided Dura and invaded homes.

Israeli police and settlers’ mosque violation: Jerusalem – 08:00, settler militants, escorted by Israeli police, invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and molested worshippers.

Israeli Army armed robbery: Tubas – 14:20, Israeli Occupation forces seized possession of a bulldozer belonging to a villager, Atuf Zaher Mustafa Bsharat, that was being used to repair a road in the village of Atuf.

Israeli Army population–control: Qalqiliya – 08:45, Israeli forces bulldozed an area, near the village of Jinsafut, in order to build a road near the village of al-Funduq.

Israeli Army armed robbery: Bethlehem – 11:15, the Israeli Army seized a working bulldozer, in Nahalin village.

Occupation settlement development: Jerusalem – evening, the Israeli Occupation approved two settlement projects in Jerusalem, which will destroy the Industrial Zone along Wadi al-Joz Road and in Othman bin Affan Street.

Occupation settler violence, robbery and home invasions: Tubas – evening, Israeli Occupation settlers, in the North Jordan Valley, attacked tent–dwellings, injuring a farmer, Qadri Alyan Daraghmeh, and robbing him of his livestock.

Occupation settler agricultural sabotage: Bethlehem – Israeli settlers raided Artas village farmland and uprooted 250 olive tree seedlings.

Occupation settler violence – robbery – agricultural sabotage: Hebron – armed Occupation settlers raided agricultural land, east of Yatta, and assaulted farmers and shepherds as well as plundering agricultural equipment.

Raid – refugee camp – 1 taken prisoner: Ramallah – evening, Israeli Occupation forces raided the al-Jalazoun refugee camp, taking prisoner one person.

Raid: Jenin – evening, Israeli forces raided and patrolled Ya’bad.

Raid: Tubas – 12:15, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the village of Ein al-Bayda.

Raid – 5 taken prisoner: Qalqiliya – dawn, Israeli troops raided Azzun, taking prisoner five people.

Raid: Nablus – 15:30, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Madama.

Raid: Nablus – 17:15, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of Rujeib.

Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Nablus – dawn, Israeli Occupation forces raided the city, taking prisoner three people.

Raid – 10 taken prisoner: Nablus – dawn, Israeli forces raided Qabalan, taking prisoner ten people.

Raid: Salfit – 12:25, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled Bidya.

Raid – population–control: Salfit – 17:50, Israeli troops raided the village of Rafat and ordered one person to stop reclamation work on his land.

Raid – 8 taken prisoner: Bethlehem – dawn, the Israeli military raided Husan village, taking prisoner eight people.

Raid – 2 taken prisoner in refugee camp: Bethlehem – dawn, Israeli soldiers raided the Dheisheh refugee camp, taking prisoner two people.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Bethlehem – dawn, Israeli Occupation forces raided Doha, taking prisoner one person.

Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Hebron – 12:40, Israeli forces raided the village of Karma, taking prisoner three people.

Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 14:45, the Israeli Army raided Halhul , taking prisoner one person.

Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired in refugee camp: Hebron – evening, Israeli troops, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided the al-Arroub refugee camp.