Israeli attack continues as death toll crosses 13,000 in Gaza

The Israeli air and ground attack continued as the death toll has crossed 13,000 including at least 5,500 children in Gaza since October 7. 

The civilian death toll in Gaza was “staggering and unacceptable”, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday, again appealing for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Moreover, the Committee to Protect Journalists says 37 of those killed were Palestinian, four were Israeli, and one was Lebanese.

It added that nine journalists have been injured, three are reported missing, while 13 have been arrested since the Gaza war began.

Read more: Israeli attack on Gaza’s Al Fakhoora school kills 50 women, children

The watchdog also said that there have been reports of multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of family members.

“CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians … and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator.

It is important to mention here that yesterday the Israeli troops ordered evacuation of Al-Shifa hospital “in the next hour” over loudspeakers on Saturday, an AFP journalist at the scene reported, as troops combed the facility for Hamas hideouts.

Al-Shifa hospital — Gaza’s biggest — has become the focus of the Israel-Hamas war, now entering its seventh week after the October 7 attacks on southern Israel.

Israel claims Hamas operates a base underneath Al-Shifa, a charge the militants deny.

The United Nations estimated 2,300 patients, staff and displaced Palestinians were sheltering at Al-Shifa before Israeli troops moved in on Wednesday.

The Hamas health ministry in Gaza has announced dozens of deaths there as a result of power cuts caused by fuel shortages amid intense combat.

Israel has made repeated calls for the hospital to be evacuated to the south, however medical professionals say the patients cannot be moved.

Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya told AFP Israeli troops instructed him to ensure “the evacuation of patients, wounded, the displaced and medical staff, and that they should move on foot towards the seafront”.