In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice
Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Land
08:00, 22 March until 08:00, 23 March 2024
[Source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group]
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: 72 people killed in Gaza brings the total number of deaths since 7 October to at least 32,142. With another 114 wounded, that figure has risen to 74,412. Fully accurate statistics are not available, due to insecurity menacing hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
OCHA Flash Update #146 not yet available.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres message for
Palestinians in Gaza: “you are not alone.”
On 23 March the UN Secretary-General told journalists at the Rafah border crossing into Gaza that it is time for a ceasefire and for an “ironclad commitment by Israel” to allow unhindered aid deliveries into the besieged enclave as he began his annual Ramadan solidarity trip on Saturday with planned visits to Egypt and Jordan.
In a tradition that started when he served as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to shine a light on Muslim communities in distress, Mr Guterres arrived in Cairo on Saturday, where he reiterated his urgent calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and the cessation of violence, notably in Gaza and Sudan. His visit underscores the UN’s commitment to addressing pressing humanitarian concerns in conflict zones. During his time in Egypt, the Secretary-General will journey to northern Sinai, a region deeply impacted by conflict. There, he met with UN humanitarian workers in Rafah on the Egyptian side to discuss strategies to alleviate the suffering of those caught in the midst of conflict.
Meetings with Palestinian families
Early Saturday, the UN chief met with Palestinian civilians from Gaza and their families at the General Hospital in El Arish, Egypt, speaking with women and children who had been injured during the ongoing conflict. He met with a 10-year-old boy who had lost his left hand and one of his legs. His brother had been killed and another sibling injured.
“Listening to the testimony of those that have been wounded, that have seen their parents and other members of their family killed or wounded, that have suffered so much, you cannot avoid feeling heartbroken…and to clearly say ‘we must silence the guns’; we need an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.
‘Stuck in a non-stop nightmare’
At the nearby Rafah border crossing with Gaza Saturday afternoon, he told journalists that Ramadan is a time for spreading the values of compassion, community and peace. His visit comes a day after China and Russia vetoed a US-proposed draft resolution that would have had the Security Council deem it imperative to impose a ceasefire and get sorely needed aid into the enclave.
“It is monstrous that after so much suffering over so many months, Palestinians in Gaza are marking Ramadan with Israeli bombs still falling, bullets still flying artillery still pounding and humanitarian assistance still facing obstacle upon obstacle,” he said. “Fasting with you on Ramadan, I am deeply troubled to know so many people in Gaza will not be able to have a proper iftar.”
Palestinians in Gaza – children, women, men – remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare, he said, with communities obliterated, homes demolished, entire families and generations wiped out and hunger and starvation stalking the population.
Aid delays are a ‘moral outrage’
“Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all,” he said, pointing to a long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates and the “long shadow of starvation on the other”. “That is more than tragic; moral outrage,” he said, adding that “any further onslaught will make everything worse” for Palestinian civilians, hostages and all people of the region.
Calls for hostage release and ceasefire now
All this demonstrates that it’s more than time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for “an ironclad commitment by Israel for total, unfettered access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza”, he said, emphasising that in the Ramadan spirit of compassion, it’s time for the immediate release of all hostages. He also urged all UN Member States to support the “life–saving work led by the backbone of all Gaza relief operations, UNRWA”, the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees. Pledging to continue working with Egypt to streamline the flow of aid, he had a message for Palestinians in Gaza: “you are not alone.”
‘It’s time to truly flood Gaza with aid’
“People around the world are outraged by the horrors we are all witnessing in real time,” he said. “I carry the voices of the vast majority of the world who have seen enough, who have had enough and who still believe that human dignity and decency must define us as a global community.” That is “our only hope”, he said.
“It’s time to truly flood Gaza with lifesaving aid; the choice is clear: either surge or starvation,” he said. “Let’s choose the side of help – the side of hope – and the right side of history.”
“I will not give up,” he stated, “and all of us must not give up in doing all we can for our common humanity to prevail.” https://news.un.org/en/story/
West Bank
[Palestinian Monitoring Group]
Restrictions of movement: Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza are under relentless and extreme control over all travel and movement.
Israeli Army attacks – 1 killed – 1 wounded: Ramallah – Since 06:05 on 22 March, Israeli Occupation forces have been storming the villages of Deir Bazi, Ein Arik and Kafr Ni’ma. One person,Mujahid Barakat Mansour, was killed in a helicopter-launched air strike. Another man, Tamer Muhammad Musa Khalifa, was wounded, in the village of Kafr Nimah.
Israeli Army attack: Nablus – 08:50, Israeli forces, firing live ammunition, stormed Qabalan.
Israeli Army attacks – 1 child and 2 other people wounded: Nablus – 08:50, the Israeli Army stormed the village of Osirin, wounding a 15-year-old boy, Yazan Bashar Abdullah Ajajla, as well as two other people: Mustafa Ghazi Hafez Adili and Jihad Adham Abbas Adili. One other resident was taken prisoner.
Israeli settler terrorism and pastoral sabotage: Nablus – 12:20, an armed guard, from the Esh Kodesh Israeli Occupation settlement outpost, opened fire towards and terrorised a shepherd, Salah Ali Hassan, herding his flock nearby.
Death: Nablus – 20:30, Khaled Saeed Jagoub has also now died in hospital of wounds sustained during an Israeli Army attack on Beita on 21 August last year.
Home invasion: Ramallah – 00:30, Israeli Occupation forces stormed the village of Deir Bazi, invading a home and taking measurements, in preparation for its demolition.
Israeli Army mosque violation and population–control: Jerusalem – 09:00, Israeli Occupation forces held up people arriving from other West Bank districts, preventing them from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque and forcing them to pray outside the walls of the Old City.
Israeli Army armed robbery and agricultural sabotage: Jenin – 16:40, Israeli forces seized a bulldozer, in the village of Zabada, being used to reclaim ruined farmland.
Israeli Army land-grab for settlement extension: Jericho – the Israeli Army issued an order, seizing 80 hectares of Fasayil village farmland, for the extension of the Yafit Occupation settlement.
Israeli Army‘s abduction of youngster: Hebron – 16:40, Israeli troops abducted a 16-year-old youth, Rayan Rami Jodi Abu Aisha, from outside the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Occupation settler violence: Ramallah – Israelis, from the Shilo and Eli Occupation settlements, stoned and smashed the widows of passing vehicles, on the main Ramallah to Nablus road.
Occupation settler violence: Nablus – 14:50, armed Israeli Occupation settlers stormed Huwara village and terrorised residents.
Raids: Ramallah – 11:55–14:00, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled Deir Dibwan as well as the village of Burqa.
Raid: Ramallah – midnight, Israeli forces raided and patrolled Turmusaya.
Raid: Ramallah – 00:30, the Israeli Army raided the village of Kafr Ni’ma.
Raids: Jenin – 14:40, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Ya’bad and Araba, as well as the villages of al-Jalama, Jalboun, Faqua and Beit Qad.
Raid – 1 youngster injured: Tulkarem – 22:15, the Israeli military raided Anabta, injuring a 17-year-old youth: Ahmed Sameh Salim.
Raid: Tulkarem – 22:15–04:15, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the city.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Tulkarem – 22:55–00:10, Israeli Occupation forces, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided and patrolled Quffin.
Raid – rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades fired: Tulkarem – 23:00, Israeli forces, firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades, raided and patrolled Kafr al-Labad.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 13:10, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled the village of Kafr Qaddum.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 20:20-22:30, Israeli troops raided and patrolled the village of Saniria.
Raid: Qalqiliya – 02:45, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Jinsafut.
Raid: Nablus – 08:25-15:30, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of Madama.
Raid: Nablus – 15:10, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled the village of Talfit.
Raid: Nablus – 16:15, Israeli forces raided and patrolled the village of Burqa.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Nablus – 06:10, the Israeli Army raided the city, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Salfit – 20:15–22:30, Israeli troops raided and patrolled Bidya.
Raid: Jericho – 04:10–05:10, the Israeli military raided and patrolled the village of Fasayil.
Raid: Bethlehem – 09:00, Israeli soldiers raided and patrolled the village of Marah Rabah.
Raid: Bethlehem – 11:25, Israeli Occupation forces raided and patrolled al-Khadr.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner in refugee camp: Bethlehem – morning, Israeli forces raided the Aida refugee camp, taking prisoner one person.
Raid: Hebron – 16:15-17:25, the Israeli Army raided and patrolled al-Dhahiriya.
Raid – 1 taken prisoner: Hebron – 01:45, Israeli troops raided the village of Deir Samit, taking prisoner one person.
Raid – 3 taken prisoner: Hebron – 03:40, the Israeli military raided Beit Awa, taking prisoner three people.
YAWN!