Child marriage in Gaza is surging, with 20.6% of recent marriages involving girls under 18. Amid hunger, displacement, and a collapsed legal system, girls are losing their childhoods to a “protection” that doesn’t exist.
Between November 9 and 20, Israel carried out at least six airstrikes targeting tents housing displaced Gazans in so-called ‘safe zones.’ According to locals, most of the casualties were women and children.
Israel bombed displacement shelters across Gaza and aid distribution points in Jabalia, while Hezbollah intensified its fire on Haifa and Tel Aviv amid Israel’s continued bombardment of southern Lebanese towns.
Medical staff at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital are refusing to abandon their patients after an Israeli evacuation order. “If we leave our positions, we will fail ourselves and our society,” a doctor at the hospital told Mondoweiss.
Over the past week, the Israeli army has ordered a million civilians to evacuate central Gaza, and has bombed two schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza City mere minutes after issuing warnings.
On August 4, the Israeli army bombed a group of tents inside the compound of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, killing three people. The bombing caused a number of tents to catch on fire, resulting in the injury of dozens of displaced civilians.
An Israeli strike targeted a tent inside the courtyard of a hospital in the central Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian journalist. Eyewitnesses told Mondoweiss the strike was precise, hitting only the tent shelter that was clearly marked as ‘press’.
At least 210 Palestinians were killed and 400 others were injured in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday after Israeli forces carried out a “rescue operation” to retrieve four captives. Reports of U.S. involvement in the operation have sparked backlash.
Palestinians brace for an invasion in Rafah as Hamas is expected to respond to a new ceasefire proposal. Meanwhile, Israel continues airstrikes on Gaza, and Gaza City’s municipality says that half of its water wells have been destroyed.
After letting a limited number of women, children, and elderly back into northern Gaza, the Israeli army opened fire on thousands of refugees who attempted to do the same.