Gaza: 97 Palestinians killed, 132 injured by Israeli bombings last 24 hours

Gaza City, (Al Jazeera, OCHA, Wafa): Between the afternoon of 21 February and 10:30 on 22 February, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 97 Palestinians were killed, and 132 Palestinians were injured by Israeli indiscriminate bombardment. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 22 February 2024, at least 29,410 Palestinians, including 12,300 children were killed in Gaza and 69,465, including 8,663 children Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 8,000 Palestinians are missing in Gaza.

Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Ground operations and heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported, particularly in Gaza city, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.

Forty Palestinians were killed in Israeli army shelling of residential homes in central Gaza, local authorities say, adding that they hold the US administration and Israel responsible for the “ongoing crimes”.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli troop carriers have again breached Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, after earlier reporting that soldiers had withdrawn from the besieged medical complex.

Twenty-six European foreign ministers signed statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, warning of dire consequences of Israel’s planned Rafah operation.

Israeli air raids flattened al-Farooq Mosque in the city of Rafah and destroyed several homes.

The sources reported that Israeli fighter jets targeted several houses in Deir al-Balah, including the home of the Attar family, as well as the Yaghi family home in the town of Zawaida in central Gaza. The Israeli attack resulted in the killing of at least 23 civilians and the injury of dozens more, the majority of whom were children and women.

At least four Palestinian civilians were killed and many others wounded this evening after being shot with live ammunition by Israeli occupation forces at the coastal Al-Rashid Street, located southwest of Gaza City, according to local sources.

WAFA correspondent reported that several of the fatalities and wounded were transported to Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City. However, some of the injured individuals remain stranded on the roads due to the inability of ambulance vehicles to reach them, as Israeli occupation forces continue to open fire on anyone moving in the area.

The victims were among a large number of displaced civilians using the coastal road to escape the Israeli war of starvation in the northern regions of Gaza. They were heading towards the central and southern regions of the enclave when they were targeted by Israeli gunfire.

Earlier in the day, a Palestinian civilian was killed and others injured when Israeli forces targeted a group of civilians on Al-Madakha Street east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Additionally, six children were wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes targeting a house in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli warplanes further conducted a series of airstrikes in several areas of northern Gaza. Meantime, Israeli occupation forces blew up residential homes in the Dahra area in Khan Yunis refugee camp.

Also in Khan Yunis, medical sources said Israeli occupation forces have withdrawn from the Nasser Medical Complex, but that they continue to impose a siege on the facility, severely restricting movement to and from the complex. The sources reported that the complex has run of drinking water, personal hygiene facilities, food, electricity, and essential medical supplies.

According to the sources, medical staff and patients at the complex are facing dire conditions with no access to water for drinking or personal hygiene, in addition to a lack of food, electricity, and essential medical supplies, including oxygen.

In the meantime, the medical teams inside the complex have managed to bury 13 patients who had died due to the run-out of oxygen at the facility. The entire facility is flooded with sewage, and repairs to water tanks and the sewage system are being hindered by the Israeli occupation forces, according to the sources.

Simultaneously, Israeli forces are still besieging the Al-Amal Hospital in the city. The lives of both medical staff and patients are at risk due to the lack of water, food, oxygen, and medical treatment.

According to Israeli government 1,139 Israelis were killed by Hamas on 7 October in southern Israel and 134 Israelis and foreign nationals are still detained by Hamas in Gaza.

[Photo: Palestinian family being treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital after being injured in Israeli attacks which killed 40 Palestinians and injured 100 others in Deir al-Balah , Gaza on 22 2 24. Photojournalist: Ashraf Amra /AA]

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