Gaza Health Ministry makes urgent call for blood donations

By Muhammed Emin Canik

ISTANBUL (AA) – The need for blood donations in the embattled Gaza Strip is “urgent,” health officials said Sunday.

“The Health Ministry calls on the public to urgently donate blood to Shifa Hospital, all hospitals in the Gaza Strip and branches of the Blood Bank Association,” said a statement.

The statement comes amid continued Israeli army bombardment of Gaza, with hospitals struggling to care for the wounded after over a week of attacks, with water and electricity supplies cut off. An Israeli ground operation is also widely expected to start soon.

Last weekend, in a dramatic escalation of Mideast tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained military push against the Gaza Strip, a response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended into cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening the living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering over 1 million Gazans in the northern strip to evacuate to the south.