One month in Israel's Gaza attack: humanitarian crisis, massive destruction

Gaza awoke to yet another day of a relentless and fierce Israeli war that has been going on for 31 days.

During this time, one of the most densely populated areas in the world has been transformed into a landscape of destruction. The daylight in Gaza is veiled by dust and dark grey smoke while its nights are painted with the colour of flames from the intense bombardments.

The devastation and fires resulting from the airstrikes are not all that can be seen in Gaza. Funerals do not cease, and the bleeding of the wounded flows everywhere. Lines for water, bread, food and medicine are distributed haphazardly in streets and alleys surrounded by piles of rubble.

After 31 days of war since October 7, surviving the bombardment has become a routine that hardly catches anyone's attention, as everyone is faced with a similar situation.

As for the most compelling stories in evening conversations, they revolve around how to secure a loaf of bread or a bottle of potable water or innovate a new way to bake bread without gas or electricity.

The evenings of Palestinians in Gaza are no longer as they were before the war. These days, they begin in the late afternoon, as with the sunset, everyone returns to what remains of their homes. Israel mostly targets any movement or gatherings on streets surveilled by Israeli aircraft during the night.

Sleeping early is not a luxury in Gaza, but rather an attempt to secure scattered hours of rest, as every few minutes there are air strikes that "almost wake the dead," as Palestinians often say.

Soaring numbers

At least 10,022 Palestinians, including 4,104 children and 2,641 women, have been killed in Israeli bombardments on Gaza.

Another 159 Palestinians have been killed and 2,250 wounded by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank in the same period.

The spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al Qudra, said that 70 percent of the casualties of the Israeli aggression are women and children.

"We have received 2,660 reports of missing persons under the rubble, including 1,270 children, since the start of the aggression on Gaza,” he added.

Al Qudra also said that 175 healthcare workers were killed and 31 ambulances were destroyed, "putting them out of service due to the Israeli aggression."

He said the occupation targeted more than 110 healthcare institutions, "leading to 16 hospitals and 32 primary care centres going out of service due to Israeli targeting and fuel depletion."

These numbers reported by journalists also include them. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the Israeli air strikes have killed 46 journalists.

The office said Sunday that "the occupation deliberately targets journalists directly, including those who were martyred when their homes were demolished over their heads, along with their families."

Extensive destruction

The homes that were destroyed over the heads of journalists, their families and thousands of other Palestinians in Gaza number around 220,000, including 40,000 residential units.

This number represents around 60 percent of the total housing units in the besieged enclave. The data released by the Palestinian government in Gaza also said that Israeli air strikes caused significant damage to 88 government buildings during the conflict.

"The (Israeli) occupation completely destroyed 55 mosques and partially damaged 112 others,'' said Salama Maroof, the head of the Government Media Office in Gaza.

The Church of Saint Porphyrius, the third oldest church in the world, was also targeted by air strikes.

Additionally, two other churches were destroyed or damaged, Maroof added.

The Israeli air strikes also targeted 15 health facilities and 51 primary health clinics, all of which were completely destroyed. In addition, 150 ambulances were damaged and 16 major hospitals out of a total of 35 in the enclave were put out of service.

Also, 220 schools were targeted, 38 of which were completely destroyed, according to the media office.

Additionally, 42 facilities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were destroyed, including buildings where displaced people had sought shelter.

Deteriorating health sector

The destruction is just a small part of the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, where 55 percent of the health sector's partners have had to cease operations due to the significant damage to infrastructure.

This has forced hospitals to operate with less than one-third of the necessary resources to treat the large number of injured, the Health Ministry in Gaza said Sunday.

The ministry also pointed to ''the possibility of newborn incubators being halted, highlighting that there are 350,000 patients with non-communicable diseases and 1,000 patients in need of kidney dialysis. Eighty percent of the dialysis machines are located in hospitals in northern Gaza."

In a statement to Anadolu, Dr Rami al Abadla, Deputy Director of Palestinian Health Care, said, "The consumption of contaminated water by Palestinians in Gaza increases the chances of epidemics spreading."

"Water supply is completely cut off, and the Israeli army has severed three water lines that used to supply Gaza ," he added, pointing out that "we are witnessing around 1,000 cases daily, including cases of diarrhoea, cholera, respiratory infections and poisoning."

He noted that previously, it used to be 1,000 cases over six months. He also said that "some vaccines are available, but mass migration and unsafe movement have made the vaccination rate very low, due to fear of going to health centres to vaccinate children."

Dire humanitarian situation

All these circumstances have forced approximately 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza to experience internal displacement, including 117,000 internally displaced persons residing in healthcare facilities and around 69,400 in 149 UNRWA emergency shelters, according to government data.

In addition, 15 percent of these forcibly displaced have various disabilities and the majority of the shelter facilities are inadequately equipped to meet their needs.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a press release Sunday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is "catastrophic and getting worse every moment."

''The civilians in Gaza bear a heavy humanitarian cost, especially women and children," it said.

Describing the situation in the besieged enclave, it said: "What we witness in Gaza is unprecedented since our continuous presence there since 1967. Infrastructure for water and wastewater has been extensively damaged, with most of it out of service, foreshadowing an environmental disaster."

"Obtaining a clean drinking water source or a loaf of bread in Gaza is a perilous journey that can take hours," the ICRC noted.

According to the Red Cross, "families are being dispersed, with mothers sending their children to displacement centres to increase their chances of survival."

It has also issued a warning that "Gaza's hospitals are on the verge of complete collapse, with exhausted doctors and a shortage of medical supplies and fuel."

It further noted that "surgical procedures are being performed without anesthesia, often in hospital corridors due to the large number of casualties."

The ICRC called for the "protection of hospitals, medical staff and ambulances," emphasising that "hospitals must remain places of life-saving and safe havens for those who have been displaced and should not turn into scenes of destruction and death."

It also stressed the "importance of safeguarding those who have voluntarily chosen to remain in their homes and urged all parties to respect and avoid civilian casualties."

Military operations

On the military level, following a sustained advance of Israeli military vehicles into the territory of Gaza over the past few days, they retreated on Saturday in one of the key infiltration axes in the northwest of the enclave for a distance of two kilometres (1.24 miles).

Meanwhile, Israeli tanks advanced in the southern axis near the Al Zaitun neighbourhood and the outskirts of the Tel al Hawa neighbourhood, moving westward towards Al Rashid Street on the seashore.

This advance occurred amid intense clashes with armed Palestinian factions, resulting in casualties among the Israeli military.

In a recorded statement Saturday evening, the spokesperson for the military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, the Al Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said "our fighters are fighting in the areas of the enemy's advancement, including Beit Hanoun town to the north, the Al Zaytun neighbourhood in Gaza City and in the Tel al Hawa neighbourhood in the south."

"Our fighters have destroyed 24 Israeli military vehicles during the past two days," Ubaida added.

The Qassam Brigades said Sunday that their members had destroyed six Israeli tanks since the morning using "Yasin 105" shells and killed a number of Israeli soldiers.

The group, through a series of statements on its Telegram channel, said it had destroyed a tank advancing to the northwest of Gaza City as well as two tanks to the southwest in Tel al Hawa in Gaza City and three other tanks in Beit Hanoun in northeastern Gaza.

The group added that their members ''were engaged in armed clashes with enemy forces to the northwest of Gaza this morning and last night, destroying a tank with a 'Yasin 105' shell."

The Israeli army said it fought ongoing face-to-face battles with fighters in the northern part of Gaza.

"The military forces continue to engage in direct combat and deploy aircraft to destroy infrastructure, including weapon storage facilities," the army said in a press release.

The army also reported that ''aircraft were directed to strike a military complex affiliated with Hamas, which includes operational command centres, reconnaissance sites and other infrastructure."

''During joint operations within Gaza, more than 2,500 targets have been attacked so far since the beginning of the ground operation," according to the military.

Since the start of the conflict, Hamas has killed more than 1,542 Israelis and wounded 5,431, according to official Israeli sources.

Hamas has also captured at least 242 Israelis, including high-ranking military officers, aiming to exchange them for over 6,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, including women and children.