News- Middle East: More women and children are killed in Gaza as the Israeli occupation force pushes ahead with the occupation of Gaza City and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians across the besieged territory.

Gaza's civil defense agency said that at least 17 people were killed as Israeli strikes hit several sites across the Zeitun area of Gaza City since dawn on Thursday. 

The agency's spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, said that the dead included six civilians who had been waiting for humanitarian aid around US-Israeli-backed centers in the area. 

"The Israeli occupation forces are intensifying their raids in the Zeitun area" of Gaza City,  Bassal stated. 

"Since dawn today, we have received 28 calls from families and residents of this neighborhood, some of whose children have been killed.”

Many people cannot leave these areas due to artillery fire by Israeli forces, the spokesperson added.

"For the fourth consecutive day, the area has been subject to a military offensive, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries," said Bassal.

Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces had killed at least 54 Palestinians and wounded 831 others across the besieged territory in 24 hours. The dead include at least 22 aid seekers.

The total number of aid seekers killed around the US-Israeli-backed distribution centers since May has now reached 1,881.

On Wednesday, the head of the Israeli military said he had approved a new plan to take control of Gaza City and neighboring refugee camps.

The camps are some of the most densely populated areas in the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by more than 22 months of Israeli aggression

The offensive would require calling up between 80,000 and 100,000 reservists under emergency mobilization orders.

This comes as hundreds of Israeli soldiers have spoken out against the 22-month aggression in Gaza and are refusing to take part in any new offensive. 

The Israeli army has also admitted a sharp increase and spike in soldier suicides due to the horrors of the Gaza war.

Meanwhile, over 100 organizations reported that the Israeli authorities had rejected requests from "dozens" of NGOs for life-saving aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

A statement signed by NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Save the Children, reported that Israel had denied the requests because the organizations were "not authorized to deliver aid", despite many of them having worked in Gaza for decades.

Consequently, millions of dollars worth of food, medicine, water and shelter equipment are currently languishing in warehouses across Jordan and Egypt.

In July alone, the authorities refused some 60 requests for aid deliveries.

This comes as Israeli-imposed starvation grips Gaza - killing over 200 Palestinians so far, half of them children.

Israel has killed at least 61,776 Palestinians and wounded 154,906 others since 7 October 2023, the ministry added

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening by the day.

At least four people have starved to death over the past few hours across the blockaded territory. 

According to the Government Media Office, the number of deaths linked to famine and malnutrition has climbed to 2 39, including 106 children.

 Israel’s brutal aggression, which began in October 2023, has so far killed over 61,700 Palestinians, mostly women and civilians.

In a separate development on Thursday, Extremist Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his intention to approve the construction of over 3,000 settler units in the highly contested E1 area of the occupied West Bank, a move that will effectively end prospects for a Palestinian state.

Analysts say if Smotrich’s plan goes ahead, it will de facto divide the occupied West Bank into two. 

The E1 project aims to sever connections between Palestinian communities and greatly hinder territorial continuity. It will create a separation between East al-Quds and certain areas of the West Bank, compelling Palestinians to undertake long detours when traveling between cities and towns.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine illegal.

The ICJ demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds. It was mere words.

Source: Press TV