(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Peninsula online
Doha, Qatar: Gaza's biggest health facility, Nasser Hospital has been under siege for several days and is seeing a spike in activity with snipers firing and killing three in the hospital compound.
Three people sheltering inside the health centre were shot dead by snipers with another seven wounded after Israeli forces dropped pamphlets ordering hundreds inside to flee, reported Al Jazeera.
Though there have been orders to leave Nasser Hospital, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) say those sheltering there are afraid to leave after reports of people being shot.
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[11:30am Doha Time] CPJ release list of journalist casualties during Israel's war on Gaza
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released a list of preliminary investigations that show at least 85 journalists and media workers have been killed since Israel launched its war on Gaza.
Gaza's media office states that at least 126 journalists have been killed in the war.
Journalists in Gaza“face particularly high risks” the CPJ said, as they try to cover the war during“the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and extensive power outages”.
The committee said that they have confirmed the death of 78 Palestinian journalists in the war, as well as four Israelis and three Lebanese.
It has also received reports of 25 journalists arrested, 16 injured and four missing journalists.
The CPJ also say there have been reports of multiple assaults on journalists as well as threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of family members.
The committee says it is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being“killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists' homes”.
[11am Doha Time] Rafah's displaced: 'We read our last prayers every night'
Dozens of displaced people have left Rafah city in recent days after Israeli intensified shelling and air strikes.
“Last night in Rafah was very tough. We're going back to al-Maghazi out of fear – displaced from one area to another,” said Nahla Jarwan, referring to the coastal refugee camp from where she fled earlier in the conflict.“Wherever we go, there is no safety.”
International warnings to Israel continue as it prepares a ground invasion of Rafah, where about 1.4 million people are sheltering from incessant attacks.
“Since Israel said they are invading Rafah soon, we read our last prayers every night. Every night we say farewell to one another and to relatives outside Rafah,” said Aya, 30, who is living in a tent with her mother, grandmother and five siblings.
[10:30am Doha Time] Children living in Gaza have lost their childhood: UN Child Rights Committee Chair
In a short video message, Ann Skelton, Chair of the UN Child Rights Committee, said that , "All children living in the Gaza Strip have lost their childhood. They are traumatized and will forever live with a permanent impact on their mental health."
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[10am Doha Time] UN Relief chief warns military operations in Rafah could lead to slaughter in Gaza
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths warned that Israeli occupation's military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza, urging the occupying government not to continue ignoring the international community's calls.
"More than half of Gaza's population well over 1 million people are crammed in Rafah, staring death in the face: They have little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, nowhere to sleep, nowhere safe to go," Griffiths said in a statement.
"They, like the entire population of Gaza, are the victims of an assault that is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope," he said.
"I have said for weeks now that our humanitarian response is in tatters. Today, I'm sounding the alarm once again: Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death's door," he added.
Griffiths continued: "We lack the safety guarantees, the aid supplies and the staff capacity to keep this operation afloat."
"The international community has been warning against the dangerous consequences of any ground invasion in Rafah. The Government of Israel cannot continue to ignore these calls. History will not be kind. This war must end," Griffiths said.
The UN Relief Coordinator pointed out that more than 28,000 people mostly women and children have been killed across Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health, and that for more than four months, humanitarian workers have been doing the near-impossible to assist people in need, despite the risks they themselves were facing and the traumas they were enduring.
"But no amount of dedication and goodwill is enough to keep millions of people alive, fed and protected while the bombs are falling and the aid is choked off. Add to this the widespread despair, the breakdown of law and order, and the defunding of UNRWA. The consequences are humanitarian workers who are shot at, held at gunpoint, attacked and killed," Griffiths said in the statement.
[9:30am Doha Time] Explosion occurs at gas pipeline in Iran
An explosion occurred at a main gas pipeline in Boroujen city in Iran's Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province early on Wednesday.
The Iranian news agency (IRNA) quoted the head of dispatching operations at the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) Saeed Aqli as saying that the sabotage explosion at the high-pressure gas pipeline did not result in any casualties.
Currently, there is no issue with supplying cities and villages with gas, and the problems that have arisen in several villages near the incident site will be resolved soon, he added.
Governor of Boroujen city announced the resumption of gas supply to residential homes in the city and Gandoman, which had been disrupted due to the gas pipeline explosion.
He pointed out that rescue and firefighting teams were promptly dispatched, adding that fortunately, no casualties occurred in this incident, and an investigation is underway.
[9am Doha Time] Intense fighting near Khan Younis hospitals, Rafah hospitals 'overwhelmed': UN
The UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) reported that continued intense fighting near the Nasser and Al Amal hospitals in Khan Younis is putting medical staff, wounded and sick patients and internally displaced people at risk.
“Al Amal Hospital continues to contend with acute shortages of fuel and medical supplies and currently has only one functional operating room,” OCHA also reported.
OCHA also shared a Ministry of Health in Gaza report that Nasser Hospital has sustained damage to its ceilings due to nearby explosions and sewage leaking into the emergency department.
Meanwhile, OCHA says that hospitals in neighbouring Rafah have been“overwhelmed” by the influx of Palestinians seeking refuge there.
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