Palestinian Ministry of Health: Death toll stands at 137, with 1200 injured; 42% of dead are women, children, and elderly

The Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Health sent out the following press release this morning:

Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Health

Hospitals General Administration — Shifa Hospital

Press Statement

21 November 2012

The Palestinian Ministry of Health condemns in the strongest terms the continued Israeli outrages against the citizenry of Gaza.

The death toll since 14 November stands at 137, with 1200 injured. 42% of the dead are women, children, and elderly, who also make up 59% of the injured.

The victims of these attacks have been struck down sleeping in their own homes, children have been killed while playing in their garden, adults while driving their cars or motorcycles, shopping at the market, worshipping at the mosque, and going about their lawful work.

Some families have been almost entirely annihilated, such as the Al Dallo family. 19 families have suffered in excess of two deaths, including the Al Dallo family (8 dead, 3 injured), the Abo Zoor family (2, plus 20 injured), the Hejazi family (3, plus one critically injured) while others such as the Salah family suffered large numbers of injuries (8, plus 22 injuries in surrounding families.)

Family homes, schools, clinics, police stations, supermarkets, restaurants, banks, government offices, sports stadiums, parks have all been hit – no facet of Gaza life has been left unscathed by the deliberate targeting of civilian sites and services by the inhuman Israeli aggressors.

Mosques have been attacked, killing and injuring worshippers. Families have been attacked in their own homes. Vegetable sellers plying their trade in the street, farmers working their fields, journalists reporting on Israel’s daily atrocities have all been targeted, killed and injured. These are not military targets, these are not legitimate targets – they are civilian targets, and the resulting deaths and injuries constitute crimes against humanity, they are clear breaches of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.

We thank all of those countries and individuals who have risen up around the world to demand an end to the current carnage in Gaza being perpetrated by the Zionist regime. We thank our Arab brothers and sisters, especially the Egyptian government and people, who are providing much-needed assistance in the health sphere particularly.

We call on all people of conscience to bring pressure to bear on their governments to take concrete and decisive steps without delay, to end this slaughter and to introduce stringent mechanisms to ensure it can never again be repeated.

We demand that the international community, in particular the United Nations, immediately ensure the following:

1. the immediate end to the disproportionate military assault on Gaza and the killing of its citizens,
2. the immediate lifting of the siege of Gaza,
3. the immediate provision of essential medical and humanitarian supplies, and
4. to hold Israel accountable for these crimes before the International Criminal Court in the Hague.