Watan-In the past 24 hours, the Israeli occupation forces have committed three massacres, resulting in 24 deaths and more than 70 injuries. This raises the total number of casualties from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, since October 7, to approximately 37,400 deaths and over 85,500 injuries, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The airstrikes have been focused on areas in northern Nuseirat and central Gaza, while the bombardment of Rafah city continues.
Arrests in the West Bank
During the days of Eid al-Adha, Israeli forces continued arresting Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, detaining 90 Palestinians. This brings the total number of detainees since the start of the war on Gaza to nearly 9,300, as reported by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
Destruction of Rafah Crossing
The Israeli Army Radio announced today the complete destruction of the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side, rendering it unusable. Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing at the beginning of May, halting the passage of wounded and sick Palestinians, as well as food relief convoys, for six weeks.
An Israeli military official stated that one of the goals of the ground operation in Rafah is to stop the supply of weapons to Hamas from Egypt. Israel discovered 20 tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, destroying 14 of them, with searches ongoing for the remaining tunnels. Israel coordinates with Egypt before launching military attacks on the border.
UN Accusations of War Crimes
Navi Pillay, Chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, accused Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. She holds Israel responsible for killings, forced displacement, starvation, and sexual violence against Palestinians.
Pillay reported that Israel deliberately targeted civilians by bombing densely populated areas and prevented emergency relief supplies from reaching Palestinians, using this as a tool of war. The committee concluded that Israel committed gross human rights violations during its war in Gaza and the West Bank.
Thousands of children in Gaza have been killed or disabled due to Israeli bombings. Hamas announced that famine in Gaza has killed 40 children, with 3,500 more facing death due to malnutrition and lack of supplements and vaccinations because of the siege and continuous bombardment.
The committee directed some accusations at Hamas for civilian casualties during the October 7 operation, which Hamas rejected, condemning the equating of the victim with the perpetrator.
Challenges for Israeli Forces
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, and the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, have been targeting Israeli forces with heavy mortar shells in Gaza City. An Israeli army colonel stated that Hamas has planted numerous cameras in Rafah to manage the battle both above and below ground, adding that booby-trapped houses in Rafah pose major challenges for Israeli forces.
Since the start of the war, 662 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and 582 have been seriously injured. The total number of injured has reached 3,860, about half of them since the start of the ground attack on Gaza.
US Floating Dock
Relief organizations reported that the US floating dock off the coast of Gaza has failed to achieve its goal of delivering humanitarian aid and is expected to be dismantled next month. The dock, operational since May 17, has worked for only ten days due to sea waves and security concerns. The US Central Command temporarily relocated the dock to Ashdod port in Israel due to high sea waves.
Samantha Power, Director of the United States Agency for International Development, stated that land crossings are a better means to ensure continuous delivery of humanitarian aid. The floating dock faces difficulties, and the aid reaching Gaza via the dock is minimal compared to the previous 150 truckloads through land crossings.
Israeli Plans to Attack Lebanon
The Israeli army has approved operational plans to attack Lebanon, coinciding with increased exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel. Over the past eight months, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have destroyed many villages, killed around 400 Lebanese, and displaced nearly 150,000 from border areas.
Hezbollah shelled the headquarters of the Eastern Brigade 769 in Kiryat Shmona with artillery and Katyusha rockets, while Al Jazeera reported another rocket barrage targeting the Galilee Finger in northern Israel after Israeli shelling of towns in southern Lebanon.
Since the start of the war on Gaza, 344 Hezbollah fighters have been killed. The group released a nine-minute video yesterday showing military sites and ports in Haifa, filmed by Hezbollah’s Hudhud drone.