Israel’s war on Gaza: Israeli attack on shelter kills at least 18
- At least 18 people, including children, have been killed and many wounded after an Israeli air attack hit a school housing injured and displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza.
- The UN’s humanitarian aid agency says hundreds of Palestinians remain trapped in eastern Khan Younis “amid intense hostilities” and rescue teams are “unable to reach them due to the denial of access by the Israeli military”.
ASEAN foreign ministers call for Gaza truce
Foreign ministers of the Southeast Asian regional bloc ASEAN have expressed “grave concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza”.
In a joint communique released after a meeting in Laos, the ministers said they condemned “all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, which have resulted in the alarming number of casualties, particularly women and children, the restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs, leading to the further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.
They also called for a ceasefire in the besieged and bombarded territory as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all captives.
The ministers urged “rapid, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all those in need, including through increased capacity at border crossings, including by sea”.
They also called for “all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and to abide by international humanitarian law and international human rights law”.
Israeli attack on field hospital in central Gaza kills 18: Media office
The Gaza Government Media Office has issued a statement with details about the Israeli attack targeting a field hospital in Khadija School in Deir el-Balah.
It said Israeli fighter jets fired three missiles on the site, killing at least 18 and wounding dozens.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli occupation’s horrific massacre against a field hospital providing medical services to dozens of patients and wounded, all of whom were civilians,” it said.
The statement concluded: “We hold the Israeli occupation and the US administration fully responsible for the continuation of these massacres against the displaced people and civilians.”
Chaotic scenes as Israeli bombing casualties rushed to Deir el-Balah hospital
Just in an instant, in the span of just a few minutes, the scene in Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah turned from being very quiet to quite chaotic.
The courtyard of the hospital is overcrowded with people rushed from the nearby evacuation shelter.
At least three bombs fell on the shelter; almost every single ambulance here, including civilian vehicles, rushed to the site where many displaced families are sheltering.
This is beyond catastrophic and tragic.
The fact that we’re seeing many civilians arriving in the ambulance, either fully soaked in blood or in pieces, killed, is just an indication that the Israeli military is not showing any slowdown or any letup in the attacks across the Gaza Strip.
This is happening mainly here in the central area, where we see the vast majority of displaced families have been pushed into this area, more recently from Khan Younis and Rafah cities.
But the one thing we are certain about is the kind of injuries here that we’re seeing have been subjugated to lethal weapons.
The kind of bombs that are dropped, unpredictable rockets and missiles and bombs falling on their homes and shelters, they are packed with shrapnel, they’re packed with nails, they’re packed with little pieces of metal.
Child dies in Deir el-Balah from malnutrition, dehydration
A child has died in Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza due to dehydration and malnutrition, our colleagues on the ground report.
Several UN human rights experts have warned that there is “no doubt” famine already exists across the Strip.
In April, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 32 people, including 28 children, had died of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals in northern Gaza.
More on Palestinian injured in East Jerusalem
As we reported earlier, a Palestinian man has been critically injured by Israeli forces in al-Issawiya neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
The family of Ahmed Joda, 37, said he was driving without a licence and tried to evade the police when he was shot. He is receiving treatment at Jerusalem’s Shaare Tzedek Hospital.
Earlier, the Israeli police said an officer shot a driver in his 30s while he was speeding towards a group of officers in al-Issawiya.
