Israel Launches Three-Day Aggression on Gaza
Israel has launched a three-day aggression on the Gaza Strip starting last Friday evening, leaving 47 Palestinian citizens killed, and 360 others wounded, in addition to vast material damage.
16 Palestinian children and four women were among the reported victims.
On Sunday evening, a ceasefire has come into effect in the besieged enclave at 23:30 local time (20:30 GMT), after talks moderated by Egyptian mediators.
Gaza Civil Defense affirmed that more than 1675 housing units were damaged during the three-day aggression, of which 89 were completely destroyed.
Latest Israeli attacks exacerbate hardships of life in Gaza
As life returned to the streets of the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire deal, Palestinians lament the loss of their homes and workplaces, stressing that Israeli forces are trying to displace people in Gaza.
Israel’s 15-year siege of Gaza has left Palestinians in Gaza unable to live normal lives. Israel and Egypt tightly restrict the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, imposing a land and naval blockade, citing security concerns.
Eighteen housing units were totally destroyed, in addition to 71 units that were left severely uninhabitable, and 1,675 units partially damaged.
Damage to other areas of Gaza’s economy from Israeli attacks, such as the industrial, commercial and agricultural sectors, also requires reconstruction, amounting to approximately $875m.
The reconstructions effort are still ongoing of houses damaged during previous Israeli attacks. Thousands more still need to be rebuilt.
To ensure this crucial reconstruction work, the international community must demand that the blockade on Gaza is lifted to allow all necessary assistance and services to enter and provide relief to the people.
How the world reacted to the onslaught?
Israel’s allies have stayed silent about the killings of civilians or supported its right to ‘defend itself,’ while others spoke out against the aggression.
The UN envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said he was “deeply concerned” by the escalating violence.
“There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians,” said Wennesland following Israel’s bombardment.
‘This brutal aggression comes as a continuation of the crimes committed by the occupation forces’
Meanwhile, Turkey condemned the air strikes, saying it was “unacceptable that civilians, including children, lose their lives in attack”.
“We are deeply concerned about the rising tension in the region after the attacks. We emphasise the need to end these events before they turn into a new spiral of conflict,” a foreign ministry statement said.
Likewise, in a statement, Qatar’s foreign ministry strongly condemned Israeli “aggression”.
The statement called on the international community “to move urgently to stop the occupation’s repeated attacks against civilians, especially women and children”.
Similarly, the ministry of foreign affairs in Kuwait expressed in the “strongest terms” the country’s “condemnation and denunciation…of the aggression launched by the Israeli occupation forces on Gaza.
“This brutal aggression comes as a continuation of the crimes committed by the occupation forces,” added the Kuwait government, calling Israeli actions a “flagrant violation of the rules of international law.”
In its turn, Global Rights Watch (GRW) call on the international community to provide protection to the Palestinian people, and hold Israel accountable for its repeated attacks on armless people.
