The Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council is sharing information on the health implications of the genocidal attack on Gaza. We will update in 3-4 days. Please use this information to organize and call for a ceasefire now and significant humanitarian assistance immediately.
Day 26
Gaza: It has become challenging to accurately keep up with the level of death and destruction so here is partial accounting of the last 3 days…
· In past 24 hours: two intensive bombings of Jabalia Refugee Camp in the north, 7 hostages were killed, and hundreds of Palestinians killed and injured.
· Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch determined Israel has used white phosphorus weapons.
· >9,000 killed, 2/3 women and children, (3,648 children) 460 elderly; one child every ten minutes
· Injured: 22,219
· >2,030 missing under rubble
· Housing units destroyed 35,000, 165,000+ partially damaged (45% of total housing)
· Education facilities destroyed 232
· 21 hospitals and 77 ambulances damaged, 1/3 of hospitals and 3/4 of primary health centers shut down
· Bombing of and around the following hospitals: Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital (only cancer hospital) shut down. Hospitals threatened: Al Ahli al-Arabi sheltering 3,000, al-Quds Hospital 400 patients, sheltering 12,000, Shifa Hospital 5,000 patients, sheltering 50,000
· Patients at risk: >1,000 kidney failure, 9,000 cancer, 130 neonates in incubators
· Critical shortages: drugs including antibiotics and morphine, blood products, supplies, fuel for electricity; water for drinking, washing wounds, cleaning instruments, ½ the staff at Shifa reported to have fevers; blunt crush injuries, shrapnel and bullet injuries and burns — will need intensive care treatment following surgery in order to survive.
· All 13 hospitals in Gaza City and Northern Gaza under evacuation orders
· 16 health workers, 67 UNRWA staff, 34 civil defense killed while on duty
· 44 UNRWA installations damaged
· 20 WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) facilities damaged
· 7 churches and 47 mosques damaged
· Internally displaced: approx. 1.4 million
· Full electricity blackout, intermittent phone and internet blackout
· Average wait time for normal bread portion: 4-6 hours
· 92% less water consumption than pre-hostilities, estimated 52,000 pregnant women and 30,000 babies are drinking brackish or contaminated water
· Most of 65 sewage pumping facilities not operational
· 50% leakage in main water pipeline between Rafah and Khan Younis, none of 3 water pipelines from Israel functioning
· 625,000 students no access to education, 40% of educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed
· 217 aid trucks have entered since Oct 21
· 76 “exceptional cases” allowed to leave via Rafah into Egypt for urgent medical care, several hundred foreign nationals expected to leave
West Bank:
· 128 killed
· >2,000 wounded
· Increase Israeli settler attacks along with access restrictions by Israeli military, 800 Palestinians driven out of their homes and communities, 100 households in 15 different herding and Bedouin communities.
Israel:
· Leaked document: Israeli Ministry of Intelligence policy paper “Alternatives for a Political Directive for the Civilian Population in Gaza,” which advocates for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.
· Hezbollah: group has carried out 105 attacks on Israel, claiming 120 Israeli military casualties (killed and injured), and the destruction of nine armed military vehicles; 48 Hezbollah fighters have been killed.
· Hamas rocket fire into Israel continues
· 16 soldiers killed in northern Gaza
· Palestinian citizens of Israel are facing attacks and discrimination
US:
· Wall Street is predicting big profits from war, aerospace and weapons industries have seen a 7% value increase since onset of attacks.
Sources: OCHAOPT, Democracy Now, Mondoweiss, Ministry of Health, Haaretz, Citizen Evidence Lab, Human Rights Watch, Electronic Intifada, CNN, The Guardian, New York Times
