On Day 316 of US-Backed Israeli Genocidal War on Gaza Strip, 5 Massacres, 69 Palestinians Killed, 136 Injured, with a Death Toll of  40,074 and 92,537 Injuries

August 17, 2024 

***

Editor's Notes:  

Here are some initial (not final) statistics, which show the Israeli war crimes against humanity, during the current Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip, based on the reliable data reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry:

By August 17, 2024, the initial death toll of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza Strip is 50,074+.   

This includes the accounted for deaths (40,074), those who are still missing under the rubble (an estimate of at least 10,000+). 

By August 17, 2024, the documented injuries exceeded 92,537.

By August 17, 2024, 628 Palestinians who were killed, 5,463 who were injured, and 10,073, who were abducted by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank, since October 7, 2023, including 310 women and 640 children (Some of the detainees have been released).

By July 12, 2024, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza included 16,054+ children and 10,700 women (69.7% of the total). The death toll also included 500 doctors and medical staff, 158 journalists, and 75 civil defense workers. 

By July 12, 2024, the Israeli genocidal air strikes and bombardment destroyed more than 100 health hospitals and medical facilities,  609 mosques, 3 churches, more than 430,000 housing units, and the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

***

***

Ten Syrian refugees killed in an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyya, August 17, 2024	As the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip entered Day 316, more Palestinian civilians are massacre and injured, particularly women and children, August 17, 2024
By Day 316 of the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, 40,074 Palestinians have been killed and 92,537 injured, particularly women and children, August 17, 2024 pic	Two Palestinians were reportedly killed in an Israeli military drone attack on a civilian car in Jineen on Saturday night, August 17, 2024

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا"  (الْمَائِدَةُ ، 5: 32).

"وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا" (النِّسَاءُ ، 4: 93).

"إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ " (الإسْرَاءُ ، 17: 7). 

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul, or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had killed humankind entirely" (The Holy Quran, Al-Ma-ida, 5: 32).

"And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him, and has cursed him, and has prepared for him a great torment" (Al-Nisa, 4: 93).

"If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, (you do it) to yourselves" (Al-Isra, 17: 7). 

***

While brutal force has been used to create Zionist Israel and sustain it thus far, Zionist claims to Palestine are false. Actually, from the five thousand years of known written human history, there has been a continuous Palestinian-Canaanite presence in the Holy Land. Despite the Zionist false claims, the ancient Israelites ruled part of the land for only 85 years (during the reign of Prophets David and Solomon , peace be upon them, and Solomon's son).

 After that, the Egyptians conquered Palestine-Canaan in 925 BC, followed by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, before the Arab Muslim rule, starting from 636 AD.

By the Time Jesus, peace be upon him, started his mission, the three population groups of Canaanites, Palestinians, and Israelites were melted together in religion and language. Most of them became Christians when Constantine converted in 313 AD. Then, most of them became Muslims in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

So, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews are the ones who have the right to claim descent from ancient Israelites, Palestinians, and Canaanites, not Zionists from other continents.

No matter what the Zionists and their supporters do, they cannot change the will of God, Who promised the Holy Land to Abraham and his descendants, basically the Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

No matter how much persecution and aggression the Zionists and their supporters inflict upon the Palestinian people, they will never be able to force them out of the Holy Land, which Allah, praise to Him, promised for them, and kept His promise ever since.

This is a necessary brief background to understand the US-Backed Zionist Israeli continuous wars against the Arab nation generally, and the Palestinian people in particular, which included the wars of 1948, 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, the brutal crushing of the two Uprisings (1987-1993 and 2000-2004), 2009, 2012, 2014, 2021, and the current genocidal war on Gaza (Since October 7, 2023), which has culminated a blockade of Gaza since 2007. In addition, the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime launched so many covert operations, raids, and air strikes on many Arab states since 1948.

The following news stories are just examples, not a systematic record, of the Israeli occupation government abuse, mistreatment, and violations of Palestinian human rights, on daily basis.

***

‎Ten Syrian refugees killed in an Israeli air raid on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyya

Syria TV, 2024.08.18 | 09:18 دمشق

Syrian refugees mourn relatives killed in Israeli raid in southern Lebanon.

‎Relatives grieved on Saturday at Shaikh Raghib 'Harb Hospital in southern Lebanon, where mourners and relatives stood helpless after ten Syrian civilians, including an entire family, fled the war in their country only to be killed by an Israeli air raid overnight.‎

‎Workers in an iron factory‎

‎Hussein al-Hussein hardly counts the number of relatives killed or injured in the raid, which surprised workers at an iron factory in the southern Lebanon area of Nabatiyya as they slept in a modest two-story building attached to the factory. According to AFP.‎

‎"Two of my nephews were killed, one in intensive care, my nephew in intensive care as well, and two other young men from my village were also killed," said the man standing at the entrance to the hospital, which was filled with mourners.‎

‎"They were sleeping, knowing nothing, young workers who were targeted by Israeli aircraft."‎

***

'Hamas: Israel is not willing to reach an agreement ending its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip

Saturday 17-August-2024

GAZA, (PIC)

After it was informed of the results of the recent ceasefire talks in Doha, the 'Hamas Movement reiterated its belief on Saturday that the Israeli occupation regime is not willing to have an agreement ending its war on the Gaza Strip.

“We confirm once again that the occupation does not want to reach an agreement, persists in circumventing and obstructing it, and insists on adding new preconditions to thwart it,” Hamas said.

'Hamas stressed that the new proposal that had been put forwards recently by the US administration in Doha responded to the Israeli demands.

“The Movement confirms its adherence to what had been agreed upon on July 2, based on Biden’s declaration and the Security Council resolution,” Hamas underlined.

'Hamas highlighted that any ceasefire agreement must guarantee a halt to Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians and the withdrawal of its forces from the entire Gaza Strip, urging the mediators to pressure the Israeli government to abide by what had already been agreed upon.

The Movement added that any agreement must also lead to providing urgent humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians in Gaza and concluding a prisoners exchange deal. 

***

'Hamas: Washington and Western capitals Provide cover for the Israeli occupation apartheid regime to continue genocide in Gaza Strip

Saturday 17-August-2024

GAZA, (PIC)

The 'Hamas Movement said the Israeli occupation army has been continuing, with the US administration support and backup, its heinous massacres and genocide war against civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially in central Gaza, which has become a major displacement center sheltering hundreds of thousands of citizens from northern and southern Gaza.

In a press statement on Saturday, Hamas stressed that “these violations and crimes against civilians, including children, women and the elderly, the last of which was murdering an entire family including 16 children, continue in full view of the world with absolute support from Washington and Western capitals, which continue to provide the cover and time necessary for the extremist Israeli government, to continue its brutal campaign of genocide in the Gaza Strip, in pursuit of imaginary goals of subjugating our people and their resistance.”

'Hamas called on the international community, the United Nations, and its institutions to assume their obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and to exert serious efforts in order to halt the Israeli brutal crimes against civilians and to hold the Israeli war criminals accountable. 

***

Al-Rishiq: Israel uses displacement as a weapon to escalate collective punishment against civilians

Saturday 17-August-2024

DOHA, (PIC)

The member of Hamas political bureau, 'Izzat Al-Rishiq, said forcing people in northern Khan Younus and east of Dair El-Bala'h to move to the claimed “safe zones”, is only another way to escalate collective punishment and genocide crimes against the people in Gaza.

Al-Rishiq stressed in a press statement on Friday, that the Israeli occupation army uses displacement as a weapon against defenseless civilians, in an attempt to exacerbate their humanitarian ordeal.

The 'Hamas official said that forcing thousands of civilians to repetitive displacement has led to their accumulation under harsh conditions threatening their lives and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, in a flagrant violation of international humanitarian laws and conventions.

He held the US administration responsible for the Israeli heinous crimes and the ongoing aggression.

He called on the international community and human rights organizations to take immediate action and to shoulder their legal and humanitarian obligations “to stop the ongoing genocide against our people.”

***

Fuel shortage in Gaza threatens Al-'Awda hospital shutdown within 24 hours

Saturday 17-August-2024

GAZA, (PIC)

The administration of Al-'Awda Hospital in Tel Al-Za'tar in northern Gaza Strip warned on Saturday that the hospital will be forced to stop operating within 24 hours if fuel is not delivered by the World Health Organization.

The hospital’s acting director, Dr. Mu'hammed Sal'ha, said in a statement that “the health sector in northern Gaza is suffering from a severe shortage of medical supplies and fuel.”

He pointed out that the hospital is currently dependent on small electrical generators to provide health care for the patients and the wounded.

Al-'Awda Hospital is the only hospital that provides orthopedics and obstetric surgery services in the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to general surgery, reception and emergency, specialized clinics, radiology and laboratory.

Since the start of the Israeli genocide war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 last year, the Israeli army has targeted Gaza hospitals and its health system and knocked more than 30 hospitals out of service, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.

***

'Hamas backs UN-proposed truce to vaccinate thousands of children against polio in Gaza

Saturday 17-August-2024

DOHA, (PIC)

Member of Hamas’s political bureau, 'Izzat Al-Rishiq, announced that 'Hamas has supported a request by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a 7-day truce in order to vaccinate thousands of children against polio.

Al-Rishiq demanded on Telegram on Friday the urgent delivery of medicine and food to more than two million Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

On Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the first infection with the polio virus, whereas UNICEF called for a humanitarian truce to vaccinate children against polio.

The Director of Field Hospitals at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Marwan Al-Hems, warned that discovering the first case of polio means that there are 200 cases that have not yet been detected and did not show symptoms.

In a statement on its website, the UNICEF called for a 7-day humanitarian truce to allow two rounds of vaccination campaigns for about 640,000 children.

The UN organization explained that this truce would allow children and families to safely access health facilities and vaccination teams.

For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed in press statements that the vaccines entering the Gaza Strip do not meet the required limit to confront the epidemics.

It added that Israel’s ban on health supplies and children’s vaccines increases the spread of epidemics in the Strip, noting that all age groups suffer from the consequences of the harsh health situation.

The Red Crescent demanded the allocation of an open humanitarian crossing working around the clock to save the patients and wounded in the Gaza Strip.

***

Forced displacement causes Dair El-Bala'h to lose 60 percent of its water sources

Saturday 17-August-2024

GAZA, (PIC)

The Municipality of Dair Al-Balah in central Gaza has reported the loss of 12 water sources due to the Israeli occupation’s decisions to forcibly displace the eastern part of the city in the Gaza Strip.

Ismail Sarsour, the head of the Emergency Committee in the municipality, stated that according to the new map of forced displacement announced by the Israeli occupation army, the municipality will lose 10 wells and two tanks located in the eastern part of the city.

Sarsour explained in statements to the Shehab Agency on Saturday that 300,000 residents and displaced people in Deir Al-Balah will be affected and suffer more from the already scarce water services.

Sarsour added that the Al-Birka tank is located on the borders of the areas demanded for forced evacuation, but it will lose its supply sources from the coastal wells and therefore will go out of service.

He pointed out that the area’s ten wells produce approximately 60% of the water quantities, amounting to 9,000 cubic meters per day, which are pumped to the residents and displaced people in Deir Al-Balah.

The Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip and the eastern regions of Deir Al-Balah city are witnessing a new wave of displacement, after the occupation army issued new orders for forced displacement that threaten the lives of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in these areas.

Under the title “Serious Warning,” the occupation army issued a statement and its planes dropped leaflets from the sky, calling on the residents and displaced people in the central and southern Gaza areas to immediately evacuate the eastern neighborhoods of Deir Al-Balah, the northwestern regions of Khan Yunis city, including Al-Qarara, Al-Mawasi, Al-Jala’a, Hamad City, and Al-Nasr.

With this new warning, the Israeli occupation is reducing what it claims to be a safe humanitarian area, which includes hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been displaced from all parts of the devastated Gaza Strip.

***

UNRWA: Occupation reduces the humanitarian zone for displaced Palestinians in Gaza to only 11%

GAZA, Saturday, August 17, 2024 (WAFA) -

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that the Israeli occupation forces has reduced the so-called "humanitarian zone" to only 11% of the Gaza Strip, causing chaos and fear among the displaced.

"Thousands of families in Gaza have been displaced as the occupation authorities issue new evacuation orders," UNRWA said in a post on X.

It pointed out that, "Once again, fear spreads as families have nowhere to go. People remain trapped in an endless nightmare of death and destruction on a staggering scale."

Y.S/M.N.

***

***

Killing and Injuring of Palestinians in Ghazza (Gaza) by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces

***

On August 17, 2024, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, the Spokesperson of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Israeli genocidal air strikes and bombardment on the Gaza Strip resulted in 5 main massacres, in which 69 Palestinian civilians were killed, and the 136 others were injured, in the past 48 hours (from a specific time of yesterday to a specific time of today). This increased the accounted for death toll in Gaza Strip to 40,074 and the injuries to 92,537, since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on October 7, 2023.

***

Gaza: Death toll surges to 40,074 martyrs

Saturday 17-August-2024

GAZA, (PIC)

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Saturday that the Israeli occupation army committed five massacres in different areas of the Gaza Strip during the past 48 hours, killing at least 69 civilians and injuring over 136 others, while a large number of victims are still under the rubble of bombed buildings or lying on roads.

In a statement, the health ministry said that the Israeli army killed and injured a large number of civilians in different areas of Gaza during the past 24 hours, but at least 205 of them, including 69 martyrs, were transported to hospitals.

The health ministry added that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli bombardments and shooting attacks, which started on October 7, climbed to 40,074 martyrs and the number of the wounded surged to 92,537 people.

The Gaza Strip has been under brutal bombardment since a cross-border operation was launched by Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, on October 7.

Besides the large number of casualties and the huge displacement of people, basic food, fuel, water and medical supplies have run out for the 2.3 million residents in Gaza due to the tight Israeli blockade and the massive destruction of infrastructure and facilities.

***

US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip enters Day 316

Saturday 17-August-2024

GAZA, (PIC)

As the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip entered Day 316 on Saturday, aerial and artillery strikes continued to pound and target different areas and massacre more civilians.

Reporters for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said that the Israeli occupation army continued to bomb homes and shelter centers and attack citizens in different areas of Gaza during the past 24 hours.

According to media sources, an artillery attack on an area near 'Hamad City in the north of Khan Younus, south of Gaza, claimed the life of one civilian and injured others.

An Israeli drone strike on a horse-drawn cart in Al-Zanna area, east of Khan Younus, killed two civilians.

A six-year-old child called Yousuf Abu 'Ayyada died of a bullet injury in his head after an Israeli drone opened fire at the tent he and his family were sleeping in near 'Hamad City in Khan Younus. Another child was also injured by Israeli gunfire in the same area.

At dawn, an Israeli attack on a storehouse sheltering displaced families in Al-Zawayida area in central Gaza claimed the lives of 16 civilians and injured many others, mostly children.

In Gaza City, one citizen was martyred and three others were injured in an Israeli attack on a house belonging to the family of Madhi in Al-Shaikh Radhwan.

Another attack on a house in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City, claimed the lives of three citizens and injured others.

Two civilians from the family of 'Azzam were also killed in a drone attack in Al-Zaytoun neighborhood.

More casualties were reported in other areas of Gaza following Israeli aerial, artillery and shooting attacks last night and today.

***

Israeli bombardment on Dair El-Bala'h kills four Palestinian civilians, injures others

GAZA, Saturday, August 17, 2024 (WAFA) –

Israeli bombardment on the city of Dair El-Bala'h in the central war-torn Gaza Strip Saturday evening killed four Palestinians and injured others, according to local sources.

They said that the Israeli occupation forces targeted a house located to the south of the city, killing four civilians and injuring others.

Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets launched an airstrike on a residential tower in Al-Nusayrat refugee camp in the central Strip.

Israel has proceeded with its genocidal offensive on the war-torn Strip in complete disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel in a legally binding decision to halt its military offensive in Rafa'h, which may violate its obligations under the Genocide Convention.

Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, killing at least 40,074 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and injuring over 92,537 others.

Moreover, at least 10,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafa'h near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

K.F. 

***

***

Killing, Injuring, and Abduction of Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Regime Forces 

***

Two martyrs in Israeli bombing of car in Jineen

Saturday 17-August-2024

Jineen, (PIC)

Two Palestinians were reportedly killed in an Israeli military drone attack on a civilian car in Jineen on Saturday night.

Local sources said that at least two citizens were killed in the Israeli drone attack in Jineen City, adding that the drone fired a missile at the car setting it ablaze and killing all those on board.

The ministry of health said that the charred bodies of two martyrs were carried to the Jineen Governmental Hospital.

***

Israeli occupation forces set up checkpoint west of Bait La'hm (Bethlehem)

Bait La'hm (Bethlehem), Saturday, August 17, 2024 (WAFA) –

Israeli occupation forces Saturday evening set up a checkpoint, west of the occupied West Bank city of Bait La'hm (Bethlehem), according to security sources.

They said that the occupation forces erected a checkpoint close to the city of Bait Jala, inspecting Palestinians’ vehicles and checking their identity cards.

Israeli occupation forces severely restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement through a complex combination of over 100 fixed checkpoints, flying checkpoints, settler-only roads and various other physical obstructions.

Closures besides other measures, taken under the guise of security, are intended to entrench Israel’s 57-year-old military occupation of the West Bank and its settler colonial project which it enforces with routine and frequently deadly violence against Palestinians.

K.F.

***

***

Aggression and Attacks by Illegal Israeli Settlers and Soldiers

*** 

IOAR forces a Maqdisi (Jerusalemite) to raze home in Al-'Eisawiyya

Saturday 17-August-2024

Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem), (PIC)

The Israeli occupation apartheid regime (IOAR) forced a Maqdisi (Jerusalemite) citizen to demolish his own house in Al-'Eisawiyya district on Saturday at the pretext of unlicensed construction.

According to local sources, the Israeli municipality forced a citizen from the family of Jadallah in the east Jerusalem district of Al-'Eisawiyya to knock down his house to avoid paying it an exorbitant amount of money in fines and demolition expenses.

Umm Samir Jadallah said that the house belonged to her young grandson, who had built it to live with his would-be wife, adding that the family tried to have the house licensed and prevent its demolition, but to no avail.

Last July, the IOAR carried out 76 demolition measures against Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem. 10 owners of those houses were forced to carry out the measures at their own expenses.

The IOA also bulldozed Palestinian-owned lands in Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) four times during the same month.

Hundreds of Jerusalemite homes are threatened with demolition or appropriation as part of Israel’s Judaization plans in the occupied holy city.

The Maqdisis (Jerusalemites) have no choice but to build without licenses because there are no structural maps that respond to the natural increase in their numbers.

The IOA also imposes building restrictions on the Palestinian natives in east Jerusalem and makes it hard for them to obtain construction licenses.

Israel’s systematic demolition of Palestinian homes in the holy city is believed to be aimed at psychologically destroying the Jerusalemite families in an attempt to force them to move from the city.

***