‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 5: ‘Human catastrophe’ in Gaza as Israel prepares for ground invasion

Key developments:

• Israeli airstrikes killed at least 260 children, and wounded over 50,000 others. 
• Over 260,000 Palestinians in Gaza are internally displaced, with over 175,000 taking shelter across 88 UN schools.
• At least 1,200 Israelis have been killed. 
• Gaza’s sole power plant has run out of power, Gaza health officials say hospitals on brink of collapse
• Two Palestinian men were shot dead by Israeli forces and left to bleed out on the floor in the West Bank at al-Jamaleh checkpoint. 
• Israel announced that at least 300,000 troops have gathered near Gaza’s fence and are preparing for a ground invasion.
• Many Gazans are reporting Israel’s use of chemical weapons being used in Gaza, which is illegal under international law, however these claims have yet to be verified. 
• In Lebanon, fears of a war breaking out are growing. On Tuesday evening, Al Jazeera reported six rockets from the country into northern Israel. 
• Israel has killed at least 1,000 Hamas fighters, including 18 in the last day. 
• Unconfirmed reports have surfaced alongside a deeply disturbing video claiming that the Israeli army posted a potentially doctored video hiding a war crime. The Israeli soldiers allegedly executed four young men in the back, kneeling down with their hands up. 

Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip has now entered its fifth day on Wednesday, October 11. Israeli airstrikes continued through Tuesday night and into Wednesday, targeting factories, shops, residential buildings, and a university, killing at least 30 Palestinians and wounding hundreds of others.

Health officials in Gaza say medical facilities across the Strip are on the brink of collapse, as officials announce the shutdown of Gaza’s sole power plant, plunging the Strip into total darkness. Mondoweiss Gaza correspondent Tareq Hajjaj says that internet connection and cell service are still extremely difficult to come by in Gaza, after Israel bombed the central company that provides internet to Gaza City. 

Wednesday marked the third day since Israel placed a complete siege on Gaza after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “We are putting a complete siege on Gaza … No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – it’s all closed. We are dealing with human animals.” 

Palestinian Authority Minister Hussein al-Sheikh said in a statement that Israel has refused their requests to allow emergency aid into the Strip. “We urgently requested that food and medical supplies be allowed into the Gaza Strip, but Israel refused,” al-Sheikh said before calling on humanitarian organizations and the international community to “intervene to stop the assault and allow aid [into Gaza], as the Strip faces a big humanitarian catastrophe.”

“People here can barely even obtain 100 liters of water to keep in their homes. The houses are completely empty of water, completely empty of food. The supermarkets are empty…The scale of suffering during this attack is doubled from previous Israeli onslaughts because of the water and food shortage,” Hajjaj reported. 

Civilians in Gaza continue to report that nowhere is safe amid the Israeli bombardment. Schools have been used as shelters; however, during the recent attacks, even these shelters have been targeted by Israel. 

“Every place in the Gaza Strip has been targeted by an enormous number of Israeli airstrikes. No place in Gaza is not being pummeled,” Hajjaj said. 

“The destruction is unimaginable in the al-Rimal neighborhood west of Gaza City or around Karamah Towers near Rafah. Entire families have been massacred. Most of them are women and children,” he continued. 

Gaza City’s al-Karamah neighborhood reportedly experienced non-stop airstrikes late Tuesday night and earlier Wednesday. The bombs have leveled most buildings in the area where hundreds of families once resided, many of whom are now thought to be stuck under the rubble, according to locals. 

“The Karamah Towers area is a residential area that houses over 10,000 people. All their homes have been destroyed and decimated,” Hajjaj said. “Since Israel sends every area in the Gaza Strip warnings to flee their homes, people have started asking where they should go, because every area is threatened with evacuation.”

Medics could not reach al-Karamah for many hours due to the ongoing attacks, sources said. When they finally did, the Palestinian Health Ministry said the emergency workers were “attacked by Israel”, reporting the injuries of two medics. Al Jazeera quoted a health ministry spokesperson saying medics are being “deliberately targeted” by Israel. 

“Medical teams work in dangerous conditions, and we call on international bodies to take effective steps to protect them,” they continued.

‘Human catastrophes’ amid increased support for the resistance

The following is a transcribed report from Mondoweiss Gaza correspondent Tareq Hajjaj, who sent voice messages due to the loss of internet connectivity in Gaza:

“Israel’s plan is to cut off the Gaza Strip from internet and electricity so that the world can’t see the destruction it is causing in Gaza. It has succeeded, because now there are horrific massacres in Rafah, Karamah, western and eastern Shuja’iyyah, and just now a few minutes ago we saw white phosphorus bombs being used in western Gaza.

Nobody knows what to expect, or when it will end, but they are anticipating a very long war.

The city of Gaza has already been completely transformed. All of the streets are destroyed. All the tall buildings have been destroyed. The universities have been destroyed. The telecommunications have been destroyed. Even the streets have been targeted to prevent ambulances from reaching the hospital, especially the main roads that lead to al-Shifa’, Gaza’s central hospital. The missiles have created huge craters in the ground to prevent the ambulances from moving.

Now Israel’s target is journalists’ homes. Already, the homes of two journalists who entered occupied Palestine on the first day of the war to report on the situation were targeted. Muthana al-Najjar’s house was bombed [on Wednesday] and completely wiped out.

Meanwhile, human catastrophes are taking place at the UNRWA schools where people have fled to hide from the Israeli missiles and airstrikes. None of them have food or water or milk for their children.

Still, this war has seen the greatest amount of popular support for the Palestinian resistance to date. Even people that don’t support Hamas or their actions are standing by the group because they saw on the first day how Hamas broke down the border fence, and they felt for the first time that they are actually doing something to liberate Palestine.”

Exchange of fire continues

The Israeli army continues to call for the mass mobilization of reservists, fueling more speculation that Israel could be preparing for a ground invasion. 

According to Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces, 300,000 reservists had been sent south, close to Gaza, and were getting ready “to execute the mission we have been given by the Israeli government … to make sure that Hamas, at the end of this war, won’t have any military capabilities by which they can threaten or kill Israeli civilians.” 

Al Jazeera reports sightings of tanks and military ordnance also arriving in the south of Israel along the border. 

Hamas fighters and the Israeli army continue their gun battles in southern Israel. At least four Hamas fighters were killed on Wednesday during an exchange of fire in two kibbutz colonies near Gaza. The Israeli military also told Al Jazeera that three Hamas fighters were killed in the industrial area of Ashkelon. 

While the Israeli military reported that there have been no attacks or active combat events with Lebanon or Syria today, they have deployed thousands of additional units to the borders. 

Tuesday evening, after Hamas issued a warning for civilians to evacuate Ashkelon before 5 p.ms, they fired a barrage of rockets toward the southern Israeli city.

Around the same time, Hezbollah targeted Israeli tanks with guided missiles towards a military vehicle in Avivim. Following this, an Israeli helicopter struck an observation post belonging to Hezbollah. 

While there has been no confirmation report by Syria or any other parties, Israel’s military has reported shells launched from Syria landing in open areas of Israel, to which they said they would respond by firing mortars and artillery toward Syria. 

The West Bank & Jerusalem fight back

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced that Israel purchased 10,000 rifles to “arm civilian security teams,” including those living in illegal West Bank settlements. In addition, assault rifles, helmets, and bulletproof vests are being distributed among the Israeli settler populace. Ben Gvir’s actions will not only enable but exacerbate the pre-existing settler violence in the West Bank against Palestinians. 

Meanwhile, Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem protest Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, which continues to target civilians and the long-lasting military occupation of Palestinian territories.

Since Saturday, at least 19 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. On Tuesday evening alone, at least 12 Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli gunfire in confrontations across the West Bank, as reported by Palestinian media. 

North of Jenin at al-Jamaleh checkpoint, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported Israeli soldiers killing a Palestinian man and injuring three others. The Ministry released a statement saying the Israeli forces denied them medical attention and left them to bleed out on the floor. 

In another incident around the same time at Huwwara checkpoint, 9 km south of Nablus, the Ministry reported Israeli forces injuring three men after opening fire on a Palestinian taxi. That same day, Israeli police shot dead two Palestinians after setting off fireworks and throwing stones in Silwan. In Jericho, at least three people were injured by the Israeli army’s live fire. 

A deeply disturbing video surfaced showing that the Israeli army may have posted a potentially doctored video hiding a war crime. The video in question shows two of their soldiers standing in front of four dead alleged fighters who were eliminated. However, aerial footage reportedly from Israel shows the four men unarmed, raising their hands and kneeling to surrender before the soldiers execute them from behind. 

International forces weigh in

U.S. president, Joe Biden, voiced his unwavering support for Israel on Tuesday evening during a national address, with no reference to the Gaza Strip or its current situation. 

“Let there be no doubt: the United States has Israel’s back. We’ll make sure the Jewish and democratic state of Israel can defend itself today, tomorrow as we always have,” he said.

In addition to its $3 billion in annual military aid, the U.S. has moved its military ships and aircraft closer to Israel and is sending them deadly weapons. 

Israel announced that their first plane carrying “advanced” U.S. ammunition landed in Israel in the early hours of Wednesday; the U.S. central command reported that the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier also arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean today. 

Turkey has denounced the U.S. move.

“What is the U.S. aircraft carrier doing in Israel? What is it coming to do? It will take down Gaza by striking the surrounding areas and start committing serious massacres,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while criticizing Israel’s blockade of Gaza, calling it an international human rights violation.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi says that if the U.S. directly intervenes in Gaza, they will take military action, including firing missiles and drones. 

In response to Biden’s national address, Hamas noted that Biden “did not point to the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people in cold blood and under the nose of the whole world.” 

Hamas described Israel’s policies as “collective punishment against more than two million people in Gaza” before calling the U.S. administration to reconsider its position and “reverse its double standard policy in favor of the Israeli occupation.”

“This is the natural result of Israel repeatedly violating the rights of Palestinians. The international community has been silent, unable to fulfill its obligations under internationally recognized resolutions,” he said. 

The president of the UAE, Mohammed Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, ordered $20 million in urgent aid to Palestinians via UNRWA. 

Despite talk of cutting humanitarian aid from the European Union to Palestine, foreign ministers decided after a discussion on Tuesday evening to continue humanitarian assistance, with the German foreign minister vocalizing that cutting off aid to the Palestinian territories would be “completely wrong.” The overwhelming majority of EU states also expressed their intention to continue providing support to the Palestinian Authority, with the exception of Sweden and Denmark — both countries announced that they would be pausing aid to the Palestinian territories. 

Tareq Hajjaj contributed to this report.