ISTANBUL, Oct 16 — Amnesty International said on Sunday that there are no areas of the Gaza Strip that could guarantee the safety of Palestinian civilians from Israeli airstrikes.
The non-governmental organisation said targeting civilians on the evacuation safe route “is yet another brutal illustration that civilians in Gaza have nowhere safe to go.”
“Amnesty has verified six videos of an attack on October 13, 2023 resulting in civilian casualties along Salah-Al Deen Street, a route the Israeli army had designated as safe for civilians to flee after an Israeli ‘order’ told them to leave northern Gaza,” Anadolu Agency quoted the organisation as saying on X.
“At least 70 died,” Amnesty said, adding the convoy which left the northern Gaza Strip for its southern area included women, children and people with disabilities.
The first attack targeted the convoy, which included “a truck carrying around 30 people, 8 cars and other nearby people.
In addition, “ambulances that arrived at the scene were hit in a second attack and rescuers injured,” it said.
Asserting that Israel’s evacuation call does not comply with international humanitarian law, Amnesty said the evacuation journey is “virtually impossible,” citing a lack of transport and the health conditions of the civilians.
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since October 7 has risen to 2,670, the local Health Ministry said Sunday.
In a statement, the ministry said that 750 children were among the dead. The number of wounded has risen to 9,600, it said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila said 50 Palestinian families have been completely removed from the civil registry due to the ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
She described the situation in Gaza as “grave and catastrophic on all levels.”
More than 470,000 people have also been displaced as a result of the airstrikes, worsening the overall suffering.
Overcrowding, a lack of electricity and water shortages have led to the spread of infectious diseases, Alkaila added.
She also stressed the need for urgent and decisive international action to end the conflict.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in Gaza announced late Sunday that it was severely damaged as a result of Israeli airstrikes on the enclave.
The hospital “was subjected to significant damage as a result of the violent and continuous Israeli bombardment on its surroundings,” the Qatar-built hospital said in a statement.
“This attack is not the first,” the statement said. “The hospital building was damaged in 2021 as a result of Israeli bombardment at the time.”
“These massacres, collective punishment, retaliatory attacks and attacks on civilians and infrastructure constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law and amount to war crimes,” the hospital added.
The hospital is a significant medical facility in Gaza, offering patient empowerment, rehabilitation services, including prosthetics, physical and occupational therapy, as well as departments for speech, hearing, and psychological rehabilitation.
— Bernama
