Chronicles of Palestine 17: Israeli crimes against humanity, strong Palestinian resistance

Nearly a month after the start of the Zionist aggression against Gaza, there are over 9,193 dead, at least 3,760 of them minors, and more than 32,000 injured. Israeli troops attempt to advance but encounter fierce Palestinian resistance at the entrances to Gaza City. The bombing of residential buildings, hospitals and refugee camps intensifies. Rejection of the blockade spreads, mobilizations supporting Palestine continue, and cultural figures repudiate the Zionist genocide.

Wednesday, November 1

The Jabalia refugee camp was bombed for the second time in less than 24 hours, killing dozens more people. Al Jazeera reports that medical and rescue teams cannot access the area, and people are using their hands to clear debris and search for survivors and bodies.

The media asked one of the people who was removing the rubble who he was looking for, he said: “My two sisters along with all their children. We are helpless. We cannot remove this heavy concrete. It’s too late, even if we find them, they must be dead by now.

A father searches for his four children under the rubble after the Israeli attack on Jabalia

A correspondent confirms the difficulties that the Israeli army is encountering in advancing into Gaza: “I recently returned from the field. What I saw with my own eyes is that the tanks did not reach the Bahloul crossing in the Al-Nasr neighborhood, nor the General Security crossing, and no ground forces appeared around the Tawam roundabout and the Saftawi area. So far, all progress has been made in the deserts and empty spaces of the northwest that… that are not surrounded by any urban blocks.”

Occupation planes committed a new crime, bombing a group of citizens in front of Al-Sharq bakery on Al-Nasr Street, and attacking ambulances at the scene during rescue operations and evacuating the wounded and martyrs.

The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital suspended its operations today due to lack of fuel. This means that 16 of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are now out of service, as are 32 health centers and 52 of the 72 primary health care clinics in Gaza.

Urgent | Ministry of Health in Gaza: We announce that the main generator of the Indonesian Hospital has stopped.

Egypt opened the Rafah crossing for the first time to evacuate foreigners and some injured Palestinians.  The General Authority for Crossings in Gaza told Al Jazeera that 76 injured Palestinians have crossed into Egypt so far, as well as 335 foreign passport holders.

One of the injured persons died inside an ambulance at the crossing because Egyptian authorities demanded passports.

Jordan expelled the Israeli ambassador. Chile and Colombia withdrew their ambassadors from Israel.

Thursday, November 2

Fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters is reported in northern Gaza and Gaza City, as shelling of the besieged enclave intensifies. Israel acknowledges 20 casualties, although the number is suspected to be higher.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 15 people in the Bureij refugee camp, located in the central Gaza Strip and home to some 46,000 Palestinian refugees.

Israeli forces also bombed a UNRWA-run school in the al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, where thousands of displaced people had sought refuge. Five people died in the attack.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israel attacked an ambulance: “Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance while its team was carrying out its humanitarian mission of transporting martyrs and wounded on Rashid Street. This unfortunate incident led to injuries among the paramedics: Alaa Eldrewi suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and shrapnel to the head, and Bahaa Badr al-Din suffered a live ammunition wound to the foot.

A group of United Nations experts declared that time is running out to “prevent a genocide and humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and criticized Israel for refusing to “stop plans to decimate” the Strip. “We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at serious risk of genocide,” said the experts, including several UN special rapporteurs, about the right to food, clean water and the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

A large fire breaks out in Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, following an attack from Lebanon.

Egypt continues the evacuation of 7,000 foreigners from Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Those evacuated so far are 53 of 196 Jordanians, 2 of 134 Filipinos, 450 Italians and 32 Brazilians. Between 140 and 178 Spanish people will be evacuated between today and tomorrow. In addition, ambulances left with 81 injured Palestinians. Turkey said it is willing to take in cancer patients from the closed hospital.

Cuba accuses Israel of “committing war crimes” in complicity with the US. Australia warns Israel that the world “will not tolerate civilians continuing to die.” Bahrain recalls its ambassador for consultations and suspends its economic relations with Israel. The Moroccan authorities criticized the inaction of the international community for Gaza because they endure constant demonstrations, those in Rabat and Casablanca were massive. They are cynical since the regime of Mohamed VI resumed relations with Israel in 2020 (Abraham Accords sponsored by the United States), betraying the Palestinian people and the Arabs. Mobilizations continue around the world. There are also repercussions among figures from the artistic world, Angelina Jolie denounced in a post that Gaza is a “mass grave” and world leaders are complicit. Roger Waters projected an image of Biden with a caption that read “War Criminal” at a concert in Brazil.