At least 40 Palestinians were killed and 73 others were injured in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours as a result of the ongoing Israeli genocide in the region, according to the enclaved strip medical sources.
They said that the Palestinian death toll from the Israeli onslaught since October 2023 has risen to 51,065 fatalities, with an additional 116,505 individuals sustaining injuries. The majority of the victims are women and children.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed and some 250 were taken captive in the attack in southern Israel.
Emergency services are still unable to reach many casualties and dead bodies trapped under the rubble or scattered on roads across the war-torn enclave, as Israeli occupation forces continue to target ambulance and civil defense crews, according to the same sources.
Israel’s genocidal onslaught continues undeterred despite calls from the United Nations Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and directives from the International Court of Justice urging measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
On Thursday Israeli air raids have killed at least 32 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Most of the victims, 23 in total, were killed in the north, where strikes have intensified in recent days.
The death toll is expected to rise as emergency crews continue to pull people from the rubble.
Gaza’s healthcare system ‘decimated’ – UN
The UN special rapporteur on the right to health has condemned a recent Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza hospital, calling it a devastating blow to an already collapsed health system.
“I am horrified to learn that the war on hospitals, healthcare providers and civilians continues, making the provision of health services even more impossible in a system that has already been brought to its knees,” Tlaleng Mofokeng said in a statement.
Al-Ahli Hospital was struck by two Israeli missiles on April 13. The attack severely damaged the emergency room, surgical operations unit, and the medical oxygen production station, effectively rendering the hospital inoperable, and an injured child also died of her wounds.
“With this latest attack on the health system, the options for health care – especially emergency care – for the people of Gaza are reduced to zero, and Israel continues to operate with impunity,” Mofokeng said. “The health care system has been decimated.”
Over 120,000 Israelis sign petitions to end war
More than 120,000 people in Israel have signed 43 petitions demanding an end to the war on Gaza and a prisoner exchange, according to the “Restart Israel” website.
The platform allows Israelis to review and sign petitions electronically. As of Thursday, 120,522 people had signed calls urging the return of hostages and an immediate end to the war.
Sixteen of the petitions were signed by over 10,000 members of the military, including veterans, reservists, and soldiers from multiple brigades, elite units, and intelligence branches.
The remaining 27 petitions and letters were signed by civilian professionals, including academics, writers, poets, artists, engineers, and other professionals.
Notable figures among the signees include former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, four former navy commanders—Ami Ayalon, Yedidia Yaari, Alex Tal, and Dudu Ben-Besht—and three ex-leaders of Flotilla 13: Ran Galinka, Uzi Livant, and Tzvika Erez.
Two former artillery commanders, Avraham Bar David and Doron Kadmiel, also signed, along with other senior military figures such as Amram Mitzna, Avi Mizrahi, Amos Malka, Amnon Reshef, Moshe Sukenik, Nimrod Sheffer, and Ilan Biran.
The petitions uniformly call for the release of 59 Israeli hostages held in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, and for a ceasefire.
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the military signatories of insubordination and threatened to dismiss them. He claimed foreign-funded groups were backing the effort to bring down his coalition, which took office in late 2022.
He described the petitioners as “a small, noisy, anarchistic, and disconnected group of pensioners” and said anyone inciting disobedience would be expelled.
The petition movement followed the collapse of the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal, which began on Jan. 19 with Qatari and Egyptian mediation and US support. While Hamas complied with the terms, Netanyahu, under pressure from his far-right coalition, refused to move to phase two. Israel resumed military operations on March 18.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its actions in the enclave.
Meanwhile, 36 members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, one of the largest organisations representing Jewish people in the UK, have voiced their opposition to the Israeli government’s renewed military campaign in Gaza.
The signatories criticised the Israeli government’s decision to resume war in Gaza, adding that since then “no hostages have returned” while “hundreds and hundreds more Palestinians have been killed”.
“Our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out,” the letter, published in the Financial Times, read. “We are back in a brutal war where the killing of 15 paramedics and their burial in a mass grave is again possible and risks being normal.”(Daily trust)
