1 month into Gaza war: Unprecedented humanitarian crisis amid massive destruction

By Mustafa Haboush

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Gaza awoke to yet another day of a relentless and fierce Israeli war that has been going on for 31 days.

During this time, the most densely populated area in the world has been transformed into landscapes of destruction. The daylight in Gaza is veiled by dust and dark gray smoke while its nights are painted with the color of flames from the intense bombardments.

The devastation and fires resulting from the airstrikes are not all that can be seen in Gaza. Funerals do not cease, and the bleeding of the wounded flows everywhere. Lines for water, bread, food and medicine are distributed haphazardly in streets and alleys surrounded by piles of rubble.

After 31 days of war since Oct. 7, surviving the bombardment has become a routine that hardly catches anyone's attention, as everyone is faced with a similar situation.

As for the most compelling stories in evening conversations, they revolve around how to secure a loaf of bread or a bottle of potable water or innovate a new way to bake bread without gas or electricity.

The evenings of Palestinians in Gaza are no longer as they were before the war. These days, they begin in the late afternoon, as with the sunset, everyone returns to what remains of their homes. Israel mostly targets any movement or gatherings on streets surveilled by Israeli aircraft during the night.

Sleeping early is not a luxury in Gaza, but rather an attempt to secure scattered hours of rest, as every few minutes there are airstrikes that "almost wake the dead," as Palestinians often say.

- Soaring Numbers

At least 10,022 Palestinians, including 4,104 children and 2,641 women, have been killed in Israeli bombardments in the Gaza Strip.

Another 159 Palestinians have been killed and 2,250 wounded by Israeli forces across the West Bank in the same period.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, said that 70% of the casualties of the Israeli aggression are women and children.

"We have received 2,660 reports of missing persons under the rubble, including 1,270 children, since the start of the aggression on Gaza,” he added.

Al-Qudra also said that 175 healthcare workers were killed and 31 ambulances were destroyed, “putting them out of service due to the Israeli aggression.”

He said the occupation targeted more than 110 healthcare institutions, “leading to 16 hospitals and 32 primary care centers going out of service due to Israeli targeting and fuel depletion."

These numbers reported by journalists also include them. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the Israeli airstrikes have killed 46 journalists.

The office said Sunday that "the occupation deliberately targets journalists directly, including those who were martyred when their homes were demolished over their heads, along with their families."

- Extensive Destruction

The homes that were destroyed over the heads of journalists, their families and thousands of other Palestinians in the Gaza Strip number around 220,000, including 40,000 residential units. This number represents around 60% of the total housing units in the Strip.

The data released by the Gaza government also said that Israeli airstrikes caused significant damage to 88 government buildings during the war.

"The (Israeli) occupation completely destroyed 55 mosques and partially damaged 112 others,'' said Salama Maroof, the head of the Government Media Office in Gaza.

The Church of Saint Porphyrius, the third oldest church in the world, was also targeted by airstrikes. Additionally, two other churches were destroyed or damaged, Maroof added.

The Israeli airstrikes also targeted 15 health facilities and 51 primary health clinics, all of which were completely destroyed. In addition, 150 ambulances were damaged and 16 major hospitals out of a total 35 in the Strip were put out of service.

Also, 220 schools were targeted, 38 of which were completely destroyed, according to the media office.

Additionally, 42 facilities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were destroyed, including buildings where displaced people had sought shelter.

- Health Situation Deteriorating

The destruction is just a small part of the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip, where 55% of the health sector's partners have had to cease operations due to the significant damage to infrastructure.

This has forced hospitals to operate with less than one-third of the necessary resources to treat the large number of injured, the Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday.

The ministry also pointed to ''the possibility of newborn incubators being halted, highlighting that there are 350,000 patients with non-communicable diseases and 1,000 patients in need of kidney dialysis. Eighty percent of the dialysis machines are located in hospitals in northern Gaza.”

In a statement to Anadolu, Dr. Rami Al-Abadla, Deputy Director of Palestinian Health Care, said “the consumption of contaminated water by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip increases the chances of epidemics spreading.”

"Water supply is completely cut off, and the Israeli army has severed three water lines that used to supply the Gaza Strip,” he added, pointing out that "we are witnessing around 1,000 cases daily, including cases of diarrhea, cholera, respiratory infections and poisoning," noting that previously, it used to be 1,000 cases over six months.

He also said that "some vaccines are available, but mass migration and unsafe movement have made the vaccination rate very low, due to fear of going to health centers to vaccinate children.”

- Displaced

All these circumstances have forced approximately 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza to experience internal displacement, including 117,000 internally displaced persons residing in healthcare facilities and around 69,400 in 149 UNRWA emergency shelters, according to government data.

In addition, 15% of these forcibly displaced have various disabilities and the majority of the shelter facilities are inadequately equipped to meet their needs.

- Humanitarian Situation

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a press release Sunday that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is "catastrophic and getting worse every moment."

''The civilians in the Gaza Strip bear a heavy humanitarian cost, especially women and children,” it said.

Describing the situation in the Gaza Strip, it said: "What we witness in Gaza is unprecedented since our continuous presence there since 1967. Infrastructure for water and wastewater has been extensively damaged, with most of it out of service, foreshadowing an environmental disaster."

"Obtaining a clean drinking water source or a loaf of bread in Gaza is a perilous journey that can take hours,” the ICRC noted.

According to the Red Cross, "families are being dispersed, with mothers sending their children to displacement centers to increase their chances of survival."

It has also issued a warning that "Gaza's hospitals are on the verge of complete collapse, with exhausted doctors and a shortage of medical supplies and fuel.”

It further noted that "surgical procedures are being performed without anesthesia, often in hospital corridors due to the large number of casualties."

The ICRC called for the "protection of hospitals, medical staff and ambulances," emphasizing that "hospitals must remain places of life-saving and safe havens for those who have been displaced and should not turn into scenes of destruction and death."

It also stressed the "importance of safeguarding those who have voluntarily chosen to remain in their homes and urged all parties to respect and avoid civilian casualties."

- Military Operations

On the military level, following a sustained advance of Israeli military vehicles into the territory of the Gaza Strip over the past few days, they retreated on Saturday in one of the key infiltration axes in the northwest of the Strip for a distance of 2 kilometers (1.24 miles).

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks advanced in the southern axis near the al-Zaitun neighborhood and the outskirts of the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood, moving westward towards Al-Rashid Street on the seashore.

This advance occurred amid intense clashes with armed Palestinian factions, resulting in casualties among the Israeli military.

In a recorded statement Saturday evening, the spokesperson for the military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said "our fighters are fighting in the areas of the enemy's advancement, including Beit Hanoun town to the north, the al-Zaytun neighborhood in Gaza City and in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in the south."

"Our fighters have destroyed 24 Israeli military vehicles during the past two days,” Ubaida added.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said Sunday that their members had destroyed six Israeli tanks since the morning using "Yasin 105" shells and killed a number of Israeli soldiers.

The group, through a series of statements on its Telegram channel, said it had destroyed a tank advancing to the northwest of Gaza City as well as two tanks to the southwest in Tel al-Hawa in Gaza City and three other tanks in Beit Hanoun in the northeastern Gaza Strip.

The group added that their members ''were engaged in armed clashes with enemy forces to the northwest of Gaza this morning and last night, destroying a tank with a 'Yasin 105' shell.”

The Israeli army said it fought ongoing face-to-face battles with militants in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

"The military forces continue to engage in direct combat and deploy aircraft to destroy infrastructure, including weapon storage facilities,” the army said in a press release.

The army also reported that ''aircraft were directed to strike a military complex affiliated with Hamas, which includes operational command centers, reconnaissance sites and other infrastructure.”

''During joint operations within the Gaza Strip, more than 2,500 targets have been attacked so far since the beginning of the ground operation,” according to the military.

Since the start of the conflict, Hamas has killed more than 1,542 Israelis and wounded 5,431, according to official Israeli sources.

Hamas has also captured at least 242 Israelis, including high-ranking military officers, aiming to exchange them for over 6,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, including women and children.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Ankara