’Israel’ Martyrs Over 646 Palestinians on Sixteenth Day, Hits UN School Sheltering Displaced Gazans

Local Editor

"Israeli" airstrikes and artillery shelling martyred 20 Palestinians across the seized Gaza Strip on Wednesday , while the Zionist military has martyred up to 646 Palestinians as it enters its sixteenth day.

The total Palestinian martyr toll had risen to 646 on Wednesday morning, including 161 children, 66 women, and 35 elderly people, Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said on Wednesday.

More than 4,000 Palestinians have also sustained injuries by the "Israeli" assault.

Moreover, the seized Gaza Strip continued to be bombarded by "Israel" from air, land, and sea on Wednesday morning, a day after the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA accused "Israeli" of shelling a UN school sheltering the displaced for the second time in two days.

It said in a statement: "UNRWA condemns in the strongest possible terms the shelling of one of its schools in the central area of [seized] Gaza."

"The location of the school and the fact that it was housing internally displaced persons had been formally communicated to "Israel" on three separate occasions. We have called on the "Israeli" authorities to carry out an immediate and comprehensive investigation," it said.

A United Nations school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central seized Gaza came under "Israeli" fire on Tuesday as a team was inspecting damage from a day earlier, a UN official said.

The official said a team, with "Israeli" clearance, was at the school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA in Al-Maghazi when "Israeli" tank shelling resumed, hitting the building on Tuesday afternoon.

"Yesterday we got reports that it was shelled and so today we sent our guys down to investigate and see which side the fire came from," the official said, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

"They went down there with "Israeli" clearance, and while they were there, they came under "Israeli" shelling," he added.

During the start of the Zionist offensive, more than 135,000 Gazans have fled their homes, seeking shelter in 69 schools run by UNRWA.

Furthermore on Wednesday morning, "Israel" also hit a mosque in Beit Hanoun in northern seized Gaza.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Endowments in Gaza, Hassan al-Saifi, said over 50 mosques have been targeted.

"Israel" does not distinguish between targeting militants, civilians, hospitals, mosques, and cemeteries, al-Saifi said, adding that he is afraid that schools may be targeted in the coming days.

"People are buried in mass graves or in used family graves," he said, adding that hospital morgues can no longer accommodate the growing number of casualties.

Cemeteries are nearly impossible to reach due to heightened insecurity, he added.

Moreover, Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said on Wednesday that the evacuation of martyred bodies and injured people had been very slow in a number of areas because "Israeli" forces had impeded the movement of ambulances and rescue teams.

He added that while more than 4,000 Palestinians had also sustained injuries in the assault, hospitals were running dangerously low on medical supplies amid the most deadly sustained "Israeli" assault on the besieged coastal enclave since 2008.

"Israel" waged the assault earlier in the month after a sustained offensive across the occupied West Bank in June and early July in order to find three Zionists who were allegedly kidnapped and later found dead.

The Zionist offensive -- which was accompanied by "Israeli" airstrikes on the seized Gaza Strip -- led to a sharp response in rocket fire from the area into "Israel."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team