Gaza sees bloody weekend with attacks on schools and hospital

Violence has reached new levels of devastation in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, with occupation forces carrying out massacres that have left at least 33 people dead and 118 injured. Among the victims, 30 were killed and others injured during a targeted bombing of two schools in the Al-Nasr neighborhood housing displaced people and a group of Palestinians in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood.

Ansar and Hassan Salama schools were targeted by warplanes, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people, whose bodies were taken to the city’s Baptist Hospital. According to the Civil Defense, 30 bodies were recovered from the rubble of the schools, and 16 people are still missing. In addition, an attack near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah killed five people and injured others.

The humanitarian impact of these actions is devastating. Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan, Palestinian Minister of Health, has warned of an impending epidemiological catastrophe, with outbreaks of epidemic hepatitis, respiratory diseases and bacterial infections. There is also a growing risk of a polio outbreak.

Torture of prisoners and colonization

The violence did not stop there. Three Palestinians were killed in a drone strike in eastern Gaza City, and the Commission for Prisoners’ Affairs documented testimonies about the suffering of detainees in Israel’s Ofer prison, describing a picture of physical and psychological torture.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank and Jerusalem, occupation forces continued their operations, closing off areas, arresting youths and allowing settlers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque under police protection.

In addition to direct attacks, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee reported 1,110 attacks during the month of July, carried out by both occupation forces and Israeli settlers. These attacks, concentrated mainly in Hebron, Nablus and Jerusalem, included executions, destruction of trees, confiscation of property and demolition of homes.

In occupied Jerusalem, two young Palestinians were murdered, 127 were imprisoned and 76 demolition and razing operations were carried out. The attacks resulted in the destruction of 970 trees and the seizure of 450 hectares of Palestinian land.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has stressed the urgent need for international attention to the genocide in Gaza, criticizing the blockade of humanitarian aid and the ongoing violence. Turkey has confirmed that it will officially submit its petition to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday.

Andrea De Domenico of the UN and Catherine Russell of UNICEF also expressed deep concern about the physical and psychological suffering of the people of Gaza, especially children.

The situation is equally dire for journalists. Jodie Ginsberg, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, reported the deaths of more than 100 journalists and the arbitrary detention of many others, highlighting censorship and the lack of access to independent information.