For almost three weeks now, Palestinian civilians in Gaza have endured bombing by Israel from air, land and sea, while Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah from Lebanon continue to attack Israel with rockets and missiles. While Israel claims over 1400 deaths between October 7-25, 2023, by the Hamas terrorists, there remains a question mark over the death figures in Gaza.
There is no doubt that there have been massive casualties in the Gaza Strip not just because of the Israeli missile attacks, but also because of the Hamas using the civilians there as human shields. Today, at a special press briefing, the Israeli Defence Force (IDFP Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, claimed that the Hamas headquarter was hidden under Gaza’s largest hospital – the Shifa Hospital.
The casualties in Gaza seem to have moved beyond headcounts. The figures largely remain unverified. Hamas claimed over 7000 deaths in Gaza in Israeli attacks there since October 7. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine in the United Nations claimed at an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly on October 26, that there are 1,000 Palestinians killed every day in Gaza. The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani did not arrive at any specific figures but said today in Geneva that “thousands killed, lying dead amongst destroyed residential buildings, mosques and bakeries”. Similarly, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, kept himself away from getting into the numbers, simply saying that he mourns the loss of every civilian life – Israeli or Palestinian. The World Health Organization (WHO), too, did not specify any number and in a statement today, just said that “Thousands have been killed or injured, and over 1.4 million people have been displaced”. WHO could be specific only about the 171 attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territory leading to 493 deaths and 387 injuries, with 56 attacks impacting health facilities and 130 impacting health personnel, as of October 24, 2023. The UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini today said at a press conference in East Jerusalem, “As we speak, people in Gaza are dying. They are dying only from bombs and strikes. Soon, many more will die from the consequences of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip…Today, at least 53 colleagues of mine are confirmed killed. In one day, we had confirmations that 15 were killed”.
But there appears no official and authentic death figure in Gaza.
“It is true that all of the numbers that are provided publicly are provided ultimately by Hamas, and so, given the way that Hamas has misled the public – most recently with respect to the explosion at the hospital last week that they claimed was an Israeli airstrike when our assessment is that is not accurate, and we have released information about that; the Israeli Government has released information about that – we don’t trust Hamas,” the US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller said. He conceded that there wasn’t any way to make an “accurate assessment of our own about the number of civilians who have died in Gaza… We just are unable to offer our independent confirmation of the number because there’s no independent body that is making assessments”.
There is not an independent and credible body that’s operating in Gaza that can provide an accurate number. “The only organization that can – that is currently giving this number is Hamas, and obviously, we don’t trust Hamas… We do have scepticism about everything that Hamas says, but that said, obviously a number of civilians have died, which is why we’re working to do everything we can to minimize civilian harm and get humanitarian assistance into the civilians in Gaza,” Miller said. As part of this, today the US imposed sanctions on eight key individuals for supporting Hamas, as well as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officials who the US claimed, were involved in financing and training Hamas. Additionally, the United States designated an entity for its ties to Specially Designated Global Terrorists operating in the region, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Iranian Bonyad Shahid, also known as the Martyrs Foundation.
“The United States is committed to dismantling networks that support funding for Hamas and countering Iran’s support for terrorism in the region and around the world. We will continue to work with our partners to deny Hamas access to the international financial system as part of our broader effort to prevent and deter its terrorist activity,” the US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken stated.
However, a visit of a delegation from Hamas to Moscow yesterday just highlights the fluidity of the situation. The visit comes against the backdrop of much speculation in Western countries over Russia’s involvement in supplying Hamas with weapons and ammunition. Ridiculing such speculations, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, quipped on October 10, 2023, “There are even fantastic insinuations about setting up production of small arms and light weapons (SALW) in the Gaza Strip “with Russian assistance,” as well as ammunition”.
Responding to the Hamas delegation’s visit to Moscow, China today said it “always hopes” that all factions in Palestine will achieve reconciliation and cooperation. “China is in communication with the parties concerned. We also call on relevant parties of the international community to work together for an early ceasefire and avert further deterioration of the situation. China will continue to make an unremitting effort to this end,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated in Beijing today.
However, with the Israeli army now set to expand its ground operations in Gaza, the death toll of civilians will only increase. Even those who were internally displaced are fighting for their lives. Some 629,000 Palestinians were sheltered in 150 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)-designated emergency shelters.
Lazzarini said, “The siege means that food, water and fuel – basic commodities – are being used to collectively punish more than 2 million people, among them, a majority of children and women”. Over four consecutive days from Saturday, October 21 through Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 62 trucks travelled through the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza, carrying water, food and medical supplies, and most of this aid already reached hospitals, ambulances, and internally displaced persons (IDPs). But, it is worth mentioning that the daily average of trucks allowed into Gaza before the hostilities was about 500. “These few trucks are nothing more than crumbs that will not make a difference for 2 million people,” Lazzarini said.
