The estimated number of Palestinians killed or missing for days under the rubble as a result of the unprecedented Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip now virtually exceeds the number of the Srebrenica massacre victims Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday afternoon the Geneva-based Euro-Med Monitor reported that 6734 Palestinians—including 2812 children—had been killed and about 1755 more were reported missing beneath the rubbles of demolished residential buildings.
The deadly attacks that Israel has launched and continues to launch on residential neighborhoods have left the Gaza Strip with a staggering number of dead missing and injured in just 18 days as of today’s afternoon according to Euro-Med Monitor. This is a record number in the annals of Israeli wars.
Euro-Med Monitor warned that what is happening in Gaza now serves as a reminder of the Srebrenica genocide that took place from July 11 to 22 1995 during the Bosnia and Herzegovina war which is considered one of the worst massacres that Europe has seen since World War II.
The massacre took place in Srebrenica City where 8372 Bosniak Muslims lost their lives most of whom were males aged between 12 and 77 years.
Euro-Med Monitor says that Israel’s conduct in Gaza bespeaks of an annihilation campaign as a form of retaliation against the entire population employing heavy artillery and ceaseless bombing of densely populated residential areas inhabited houses and civilian gatherings causing the greatest number of casualties among civilians compared to any previous war on Gaza.
The Israeli attacks are being accompanied by a comprehensive closure of the Gaza Strip and a total blackout of fuel electricity water and humanitarian aid supplies which threatens a complete catastrophe Euro-Med Monitor said.
Euro-Med Monitor warned of the serious declaration of the collapse of the Gaza Strip’s health system due to the ongoing power outage crisis and fuel shortage required to run backup generators which would turn Gaza hospitals into mass morgues.
During their tours of Gaza’s hospitals Euro-Med Monitor’s team witnessed hundreds of injured men women and children who were laying on stretchers beds and the ground and receiving inadequate medical care while dozens of bodies including those of children were kept in tents in the squares due to the overcrowding in the hospitals’ morgues.
Euro-Med Monitor cited the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which is the main humanitarian aid organization in Gaza stating that it will have to cease operations as of today unless fuel is permitted into Gaza.
Since October 11 Gaza has been suffering from a complete power outage making hospitals and water facilities rely on backup generators running on fuel—which the Israeli government has denied entry into Gaza for 19 days.
Nearly half of Gaza’s hospitals (17 out of 35) and nearly two-thirds of primary health care clinics (46 out of 72) were completely closed due to severe damage from Israeli attacks or fuel shortages.
Alongside this there is a severe lack of necessities like food water and medicine at a time when approximately 1.5 million people out of 2.3 million were forced to evacuate their homes and are now living in shelters schools and hospitals without access to their basic human needs.
Additionally serious concerns have been raised about the possibility of a major epidemic wave spreading throughout the region as thousands of cases of epidemic diseases were reported mostly in children such as food poisoning skin infections bronchial infections and diarrheal illnesses. Primary care centers are also reporting dozens of cases of chicken pox because of the overcrowding in shelter centers the lack of drinking water and poor personal hygiene.
Food insecurity puts women and children—especially pregnant and breastfeeding mothers—at risk for undernutrition and malnutrition which can compromise their immune systems and make them more susceptible to diseases related to anemia preeclampsia and bleeding that are linked to maternal nutrition and raise the mortality risk for both mothers and children Euro-Med Monitor warned.
Euro-Med Monitor concluded by warning that the international community’s contentment with condemnatory statements of denunciation without any real and effective action to halt what has effectively become a genocidal campaign in Gaza Strip as well as starvation campaign would lead to an unprecedented catastrophe.
