Palestinians ‘desperate and scared’, hospitals flooded with ‘mass casualties’ after deadly Israeli strikes.
Palestinians in Gaza were woken up by Israel unleashing a new wave of attacks on Gaza which killed at least 404 people and wounded 562.
The attacks on Tuesday not only shattered a period of relative calm in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but also the fragile ceasefire deal Israel had with Hamas.
Palestinians who had returned to their damaged and destroyed homes after the ceasefire came into effect were also targeted by Israel’s relentless bombing as entire families were wiped out in seconds.
“We were shocked late at night to see strikes and attacks on Gaza like in the early days of the war,” Momen Qoreiqeh, who lost 26 members of his family in the attacks, told Al Jazeera.
“I was with my family and suddenly there was a huge attack on our residential block. The attack killed so many people from my family, some of them we still haven’t recovered from under the rubble.”
Ahmed Abu Rizq, a teacher, recounted the initial hours of the Israeli attacks, which added to the state of sheer horror and panic being witnessed at the hospitals.
“We woke up frightened, hearing Israeli strikes everywhere in Gaza. If you’re now in one of Gaza’s hospitals, you will see blood everywhere,” said Abu Rizq, adding that he had seen families arriving at hospital with the “remains of their children” in their hands.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that Israel’s strikes had once again turned Gaza into a “killing box”.
“Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City is overwhelmed with the number of mass casualties arriving,” said Mahmoud. “We’ve seen entire families [killed] brought here, including a family of 26, with women, children and elderly. We’ve seen a mother here, crying over the bodies of her two daughters.
“Last night’s attacks prove again that there is no safe place across Gaza. People had gone back to bombed homes and evacuation centres, thinking it was going to be safe due to the ceasefire, but that was not the case. They were killed inside these very places.”
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that “every minute, a wounded person dies due to a lack of resources”.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in the centre of Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the Health Ministry was calling for urgent blood donations owing to “severe shortages” in supplies.
“Health facilities are also short on basic medical supplies they need to treat the wounded, like gauze and painkillers,” she said.
Existing shortages in hospitals have been exacerbated by Israel’s barring of aid trucks, which have not been allowed to enter the territory for more than two weeks.
“Doctors are saying that this is a very big challenge,” said Khoudary. “In addition, there is a shortage of fuel that is putting all medical facilities at risk of collapse.
“The expectation here was people would at least spend the last days of Ramadan without any air strikes. There are a lot of people missing and trapped under the rubble. Palestinians are desperate and parents are scared.”
