5,000 people killed in Israeli siege of northern Gaza, still missing after 100 days Israel-Palestine conflict news

Nearly 5,000 Palestinians have been killed or missing after 100 days of brutal attacks in the Israeli military siege of the northern Gaza Strip, which has intensified amid talks of a possible brokered deal between Israel and Hamas.

Another 9,500 Palestinians were injured as a result of the Israeli military operation launched in the north in early October, a medical source told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

Gaza’s government media office on Sunday described the Israeli siege as “the worst form of ethnic cleansing, displacement and destruction” that has affected thousands of people in the war-torn territory.

Reporting from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said northern Gaza is now a “ghost zone” of vast destruction and debris, but some people have managed to stay alive by refusing to evacuate. Are.

“We see Palestinians everywhere in the Gaza Strip being systematically targeted. It doesn’t matter where you are – if you’re in a school, a shelter, a temporary camp or even a hospital,” she said.

Kamal Adwan Hospital, the most prominent health facility in the north, was burned and destroyed by Israeli forces under siege in late December, and the fate of its arrested director Hussam Abu Safia is unknown.

As Israeli politicians and settler groups openly discuss the possibility of building settlements in northern Gaza, the siege shows no signs of stopping.

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the Mukhabarat area of ​​northern Gaza City, witnesses said on Sunday afternoon. A young man was later killed in Shati refugee camp by Israeli drone fire.

Throughout the night there were heavy Israeli attacks on the northwestern areas of Gaza City. At least eight Palestinians were killed on Saturday when Israeli forces directly attacked another school-shelter in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, calling it a Hamas “command and control center.”

At least 70 children died in five days

Continued attacks are also targeting other areas of the enclave several times daily, with some of the latest attacks being on the Burij refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Israeli military issued another forced evacuation order on Sunday, targeting people living in residential blocks in the northern part of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Residents were told they would be in danger of being killed if they did not leave the area.

Gaza Civil Defense announced on Sunday that Israeli forces had killed at least 70 children across the territory in the past five days alone.

The Israeli strikes escalated as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the heads of spy and security agencies Mossad and Shin Bet to travel to Qatar along with other top representatives to advance talks on the release of Palestinian prisoners in Gaza and .

But Israeli leaders have insisted that even if a deal is reached it would not end the war and that they would maintain military control over the enclave, even as they seize control of the West Bank, large parts of Syria and areas of southern Lebanon. Will continue to do.

Despite another massive demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against the Israeli government and in favor of a deal, far-right ministers in the administration remain in opposition.

Netanyahu was struggling on Sunday to ensure that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir did not jeopardize the stability of his ruling coalition by leaving in the event of a deal.

humanitarian and mental health crisis

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, as Israeli forces are blocking most aid from entering, creating unsafe conditions that have enabled armed robbery of aid convoys.

Thousands of families are forced to live in the open or in dilapidated tents amid famine-like conditions across Gaza as Israeli forces continue to attack hospitals and order evacuations.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), almost all of Gaza’s 1.1 million children need mental health and psychosocial support amid Israeli bombardment, repeated displacement and appalling living conditions in the winter cold.

The United Nations estimates that at least 19,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned since the beginning of the war on Gaza, which is now in its 16th month.

At least 203 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since the war began, including several in the new year.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday that Israel had so far killed at least 46,565 Palestinians and wounded 109,660, including 28 killed in the past day.