Category World News

In response to Israel’s ongoing siege of northern Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past week and hundreds of thousands of civilian residents have been trapped or ordered to flee, a senior Palestinian diplomat to the UN has sounded the alarm.

At least 200 people have died as a result of the military’s 10-day siege, according to Palestinian authorities, as the camp’s Jabalia refugee camp and its surrounding area drew to its 10th day on Sunday.

At least 17 more people were killed on Sunday morning in central and northern Gaza, including five people from the al-Ettesalat area west of the Jabalia refugee camp and eight members of a family in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The deputy permanent observer to the UN, Palestinian Ambassador Majed Bamya, wrote on X: “What is happening in northern Gaza right now is a genocide within the genocide.”

The “Continuation of Genocidal Acts”

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said about 400, 000 Palestinians are trapped in northern Gaza, with the Israeli military not allowing anyone to leave the area despite issuing an evacuation order.

More than 70 bodies are still on the streets, with civil defense workers unable to retrieve them as a result of persistent Israeli attacks, he said, adding that “what’s happening now is a continuation of the genocidal acts that started a year ago.”

In Jabalia, desperate residents are posting about their dire situation on social media with one declaring, “We will not leave, we die and we don’t leave”.

Nasser, a resident of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, said: “As the world is focused on Lebanon and possible Israeli strike against Iran, Israel is wiping out Jabalia.

The occupation is “destroying residential districts and blowing up roads.” People can’t find anything to eat. They fear that bombs could fall onto their heads because they are confined to their homes.

In a statement released on Sunday by the Israeli military, 40 targets were hit in Gaza during the past 24 hours, according to a statement from the military. Those targets included Hamas fighters and their families.

One person was killed when Israeli warplanes struck a gathering east of Deir el-Balah, according to Wafa, among the reported fatalities in the Sunday strikes. In the Bureij refugee camp, according to the report, three Palestinians were killed and several others were hurt in Israeli artillery shelling.

Explosions were also heard from the Israeli army’s demolition of dozens of homes in Jabalia and its surroundings, particularly in the al-Safatay and al-Tuwam neighbourhoods, according to Wafa.

Osama Hamdan, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that Israel has” prevented the entry of food supplies to the north for 10 days”, describing what is happening in Jabalia as” a crime against humanity”.

According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, “prisoning” civilians of “objects essential to their survival,” including willfully preventing relief supplies, is a war crime.

Meanwhile, six Palestinians, most of them children, were injured when the Israeli military bombed a home in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, Wafa said.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, accused Israel of committing” another massacre”, adding that its troops” have accepted to be willing executioners of a genocidal plan”.

At least one person was killed and four were injured in overnight air raids by Israel’s air raids in the southern city of Nabatieh.

According to civil defense officials in Lebanon, fires erupted in the market’s 12 residential buildings and 40 shops on Sunday.

“Our livelihoods have all been levelled to the ground”, said Ahmad Fakih, whose corner shop was destroyed.

As Israeli drones buzzed overhead, rescuers were searching for survivors and what is still buried in the battered buildings early on Sunday.

Israel has issued a warning to residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate Nabatieh, even though the city also houses residents who have already been displaced.

The conflict in Lebanon dramatically escalated in September with a wave of Israeli attacks that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders. This month, Israel launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese Red Cross reported in a separate incident that left four paramedics with concussions and two ambulances damaged by an Israeli air raid in southern Lebanon.

Since the start of the ground operation, Israeli forces have fired at first responders and UN peacekeepers on numerous occasions. Israel, without providing evidence, accuses Hezbollah of using ambulances to ferry fighters and weapons, saying Hezbollah operates in the vicinity of the peacekeepers.

A genuine blessing, indeed.

Due to the lack of showers in the village, the tired volunteers head down a muddy hill to soak in the cold waters of a nearby river at the end of the second day of the clinic. They wrap their hammocks up for the last night, have a hearty meal, and wrap them in a towel.

Over the past two days, beneath the tropical heat and rain, they saw 133 patients and provided assistance and treatment for a number of maladies, from lesions and diarrhoea to fevers, cysts and pregnancy concerns.

“As a doctor, you’re always facing an uncertain and challenging environment where you’re questioning yourself”, says Dr Geoff McCullen, an orthopaedic surgeon and professor at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. “This week, I think our students learned they can face uncertainty, they can face challenges, manage these complexities simultaneously and be decisive about what a patient needs”.

After nightfall, wearing headlamps, the group discusses the medical cases they witnessed and reflects on an experience that pushed them out of their comfort zones, both as people and budding professionals.

“I’ve had so many firsts this week”, said Cristina Kontogiannis, a second-year medical student at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. “I’ve never listened to a baby’s lungs and I got to do that here, for example. It’s been such a learning experience and I’m so thankful for this opportunity”.

Both Serrano and La Sabana’s residents are appreciative. He claimed that the Floating Doctors’ visits are frequently praised and voiced support for them at their regular meetings because La Sabana is a tight-knit community.

“We have a lot of need here. We have a lot of patients who have chronic illnesses, including children who have broken bones from machetes, snake bites, and other accidents, Serrano said. “We’re content and satisfied with the Floating Doctors, and they’ve taught how to be better equipped to deal with accidents and emergency issues, and that wasn’t always the case”.

The Floating Doctors begin the journey back to headquarters by loading the duffel bags with medical supplies on the last morning. The group who enjoy laughing and singing during the sunny morning trek is easier to descend through the humid, boggy rainforest.

The bus awaits the group at Pueblo Nuevo, makes a stop for lunch, and drops the group off at the port, where they load boats, strap on their lifejackets and zip back across the Caribbean. The excited and exhausted team switches into swimming gear after arriving. They take a final group photo and then, together, jump into the warm and clear waters surrounding the island.

Another group of Floating Doctors volunteers will travel to La Sabana in three months to provide care to residents there in need. A few others will travel to Omayra from Wari and spend an additional hour walking in the rainforest.

“Because of Omayra’s condition and inability to walk, I can’t work or leave her side, and we don’t have the money to pay to transport her to the hospital”, said Julian Abrego, Omayra’s father. The fact that the Floating Doctors visit our home every day to take care of Omayra is a true blessing for us.