Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in a series of attacks while allowing small amounts of aid to the northern Gaza Strip.
At least 40 people have died across Gaza since dawn, including 24 in the north on Friday evening, medics quoted by the Palestinian Wafa news agency said.
At least six Palestinians were killed in the targeting of the Fahd al-Sabah school sheltering refugees near Tuffah on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera’s team in Deir el Bala.
Among the dead were two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child. The Israeli military made a common claim that it was targeting terrorists, but did not provide any evidence or details.
Five more people were killed in Gaza City’s Shujayea district, and at least one person was killed by an Israeli sniper in the Zaitoun district.
At least nine people have died after Israel bombed a refugee tent in the so-called ‘humanitarian zone’ of al-Mawash in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. According to Nasser Hospital, where casualties occurred, the dead included a child and two women.
Israeli airstrikes using attack helicopters targeted the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, a major medical facility in central Gaza. This attack is Israel’s eighth since March.
Al Jazeera’s Maram Humade, who was at the scene, reported that at least three people were killed and 26 were injured. The attack occurred just 20 meters (65 feet) from an Al Jazeera tent in the area.
On Saturday, the 400th day of the war, Gaza’s Health Ministry announced that at least 43,552 Palestinians had been killed and 102,765 wounded.
The actual death toll is believed to be much higher, with around 10,000 bodies buried under the vast rubble of destroyed buildings across the territory.
The UN Human Rights Office has condemned the fact that nearly 70% of those killed in Gaza are children and women.
More than 1,000 health care workers and at least 12,700 students have died. About 86,000 tons of explosives were dropped on Gaza, destroying most of the infrastructure and displacing about 2 million people, or about 90% of the population.
Aid allowed by Israel is far below U.S. targets
A limited amount of aid was allowed into the area for the first time in more than a month after the Israeli military launched a major ground offensive in northern Gaza and cut off aid.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for organizing relief, announced that 11 trucks loaded with food, water and medical equipment had been moved to distribution centers for those still remaining in Jabalia and Beit Hanoon in the north.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP), which participated in the delivery process, said that a truck ordered by the Israeli military was unloaded in Jabalia, the main base of the ground invasion, without all the limited relief supplies reaching the return point.
Humanitarian aid is the only means of survival for thousands of families in Gaza. We need to increase this and maintain it.
In October, WFP was only able to bring in less than 30% of what it needed due to restrictions.
🎥 WFP’s Nour explains the challenges her family faces. pic.twitter.com/OnLk74pEmm
— World Food Program (@WFP) November 9, 2024
Some aid has been granted with only a few days left before the deadline given to Israel by the United States, potentially impacting subsequent U.S. arms transfers to Israel.
Washington has said Israel must allow at least 350 trucks into Gaza a day to transport aid. That’s a far cry from what Israel is currently allowing and far fewer than the up to 700 trucks a day that aid groups have said the region needs.
The independent Famine Review Commission issued a rare warning Friday that famine is very likely imminent in northern Gaza and that immediate action is needed to alleviate the catastrophic situation.
The Israeli military responded by claiming that the international organization’s researchers “continue to rely on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”
Besieged hospital chief Kamal Adwan in the north again sounded the alarm over the worsening situation, saying many injured people were unable to get to hospitals due to overcrowded facilities, a shortage of ambulances and the targeting of vehicles in the area.
“We have no medicine or medical supplies,” Hussam Abu Safia told Al Jazeera. “We don’t have a surgeon. (a) There are very few pediatricians and general internists.”
This comes as Israeli forces continue to block international journalists from entering Gaza to report on the situation.
At least five journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes in October, and the Israeli military launched a smear campaign against six Al Jazeera journalists reporting from the north, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“There are now virtually no professional journalists left in the north to document what several international organizations have described as a campaign of ethnic cleansing,” it said in a statement.
