Humanitarians, aid groups and Palestinian civilians are desperately trying to tell the world that the Israeli military is essentially wiping northern Gaza off the map, with its weekslong siege involving relentless bombing, the destruction of hospitals and other infrastructure, and the ongoing aid blockade that is worsening both hunger and medical care.
Israeli forces have been carrying out a major ground invasion of the territory’s northern region for 19 days now, walling off Palestinians from the rest of a besieged Gaza. In that time, Israeli soldiers have killed more than 770 people in the north, particularly in the crowded Jabalia refugee camp, according to the Government Media Office.
“Dead bodies are strewn across the streets, with no safe place left. The situation is catastrophic,” Rana Soboh, a MedGlobal nutrition technical advisor who lives in Gaza City, said on Tuesday.
The death toll is likely much higher given that many people are still buried under rubble, while emergency workers struggle to access homes under attack without getting killed themselves. The Palestinian Civil Defense announced on Wednesday that it has “completely gone out of service” in northern Gaza, after the Israeli military detained some colleagues and targeted others with a drone. The emergency rescue group has been a massive resource for pulling Palestinians from under the rubble and putting out fires.
“The Israeli occupation is now completely eliminating all service providers present in the northern Gaza Strip, and ending all humanitarian services there,” said a member of the group, which posted a video showing Israeli soldiers shooting at rescuers trying to respond to a family whose home was bombed in Jabalia.
civil defense workers had been detained at a military checkpoint, after soldiers demanded they leave Jabalia in the north.” width=”720″ height=”480″ src=”https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/67198c931d00002e004d0642.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale”/>Civil defense workers arrive at Al-Ahli Hospital after being released by Israeli soldiers in Gaza City on Wednesday. The civil defense workers had been detained at a military checkpoint, after soldiers demanded they leave Jabalia in the north.
Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images
The unending attacks have led to waves of patients arriving at northern Gaza’s three hospitals: Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and Al-Awda. But Israeli forces have now besieged those facilities, collapsing the region’s health care system as a way to systemically erase the Palestinian population.
“There is death in all types and forms in Kamal Adwan Hospital and North Gaza,” Dr. Mohammed Obeid, a Palestinian orthopedic surgeon with Doctors Without Borders, said on Wednesday. “The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop. There is heavy shelling, and the hospital is [being] targeted too. It just looks like a movie ― it does not seem real.”
As of Tuesday, Soboh said Kamal Adwan was treating 95 critically injured patients, 15 of whom were in intensive care on ventilators. On Wednesday, Obeid said there are 130 critically injured, on top of 30 already dead inside the facility he is working and sheltering with his family after Israeli forces bombed his home five days ago.
“Medical staff are exhausted,