Tweeted by photojournalist Lazar Simenov @Lazsim “Apocalyptical scenes in Beit Hanoun. #Gaza #Palestine #Israel”
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israel continues its offensive against the besieged enclave for the 24th day has so far exceeded those killed in Cast Lead, a three-week armed conflict six years ago.
According to Palestinian Health spokesman Dr Ashraf Alqedra, who shares statistics on Facebook, the overall number of Palestinians killed to date is 1,437 and those injured exceed 8,300 in this round of the conflict, dubbed by Israel as Operation Protective Edge.
Dr Alqedra says 79 Palestinians were killed on July 31 and 350 injured.
Sixty-one Israeli soldiers and three civilians have also been killed.
According to media reports, Operation Cast Lead resulted in between 1,166 and 1,417 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths (4 from friendly fire) in 2008/09.
Journalist Ruth Pollard reports:
Toll in #Gaza has climbed to 1418 dead, says health ministry, with 8265 injured. Surpassed Cast Lead. No end in sight.
— Ruth Pollard (@rpollard) July 31, 2014
Since Israel launched the massive offensive against the 40-kilometer-long coastal strip on July 8, their military has bombed residential neighborhoods, markets, schools, a playground, hospitals, shelters and refugee camps, leading to a 75 percent civilian death rate. On July 28, Israel attacked the only power plant in Gaza, plunging the congested strip of 1.8 million people into darkness.
With no where to escape, the number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza could exceed 400,000 people, according to the UN.
This is Israel's third military operation in Gaza in six years. Excessive restrictions from Israel in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank is why most of the world and the United Nations considers this territory “occupied” by Israel.
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive
6 comments
Of course the author conveniently failed to mention that the so called siege which purportedly fuels Hamas’s actions was only invoked after hams began firing missiles and after Israel unilaterally uprooted it’s settlements in attempt to achieve a peace that never materialized.
Riiight. Why don’t you put a name to that crap?
US citizens are now accomplice to genocide and apartheid. This is due to blind and undeserved loyalty to a country which cannot be trusted to act in OUR best interests. Our founders warned us of such alliances.
We need to cut every dime of fiscal support for the fascists in Israel.
The good news is that, here, on the Internet, you have easy access to dictionaries, which will help you learn the meaning of the words you are trying to use. Give it a shot!
My vocabulary was intentional. I know what each of those words mean.
Do you?
What is it that Israel does for us? It appears to be a one way street to me.
Our association with these theocratic imperialists is certainly not one our founders would have promoted. They warned about such alliances.