Palestinian Civilians Pay the Price in Israel-Hamas Crossfire, Death Toll Rises

According to UN, nearly 6,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israel-Hamas crossfire, not including the ongoing war

A Palestinian looking at the devastation from Israeli air strikes

(Photo: X/Times of Gaza)

Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma

Palestinian civilians continue to pay the price in the ongoing Israel-Hamas crossfire, that comes amid several years of conflict and wars between Israel and Hamas.

On the sixth day of the ongoing war, Palestinian authorities said at least 1,100 people have been killed, including over 326 children, and another 5,339 have been injured in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed, and 2,700 people have been injured in Hamas' attack. According to the United Nations, roughly 6,400 Palestinians and 300 Israelis have been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict, since 2008.

A resident looking at the rubble around him in Gaza Strip.

(Photo: X/Times of Gaza)

Homes Reduced to Rubble, Rescue Camps Bombed

Hundreds of apartments and shops are destroyed in Israeli air strikes. Mosques, schools and rescue camps are being bombed, leaving over 1,23,000 people displaced, according to the United Nations. Thousands have taken shelter in UNRWA-run (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) schools.

With homes reduced to rubble, residents and relief teams are racing against time to clear the debris and rescue loved ones. Several roads destroyed and blocked in air strikes, making it difficult for ambulances and rescue personnel from reaching the bombing sites.

Even rescue camps have been targeted by Israeli forces. On 9 October 2023, residents of Beit Hanoun woke up to instructions from the Israeli army, asking them to leave their homes and move to the city centre. Many of them heeded the call and took shelter in the Jabalia rescue camp, hoping to be safe. Instead, they were bombed. Israeli fighter jets bombed two buildings in the main market of the camp, killing more than 50 people.

It's a massacre that no one imagined could happen. Bodies were in piles, malls on fire, homes knocked down, cars destroyed.

Muhammed Abdallah, Local Resident (Told Middle East Eye)

Top-angle photo of buildings destroyed in Israeli air strike.

(Photo: X/Times of Gaza)

Gaza's Main Hospital Damaged, Out of Service

Hospital are overcrowded and struggling to cope with the number of injured. They are running out of drugs, medical supplies and fuel for generators. The last operational power plant in Gaza stopped working as it ran out of fuel.

Ambulances can't be used right now because they're being hit by airstrikes.

Darwin Diaz, Medical Coordinator (Doctors Without Borders) in Gaza

The Beit Hanoun Hospital, which is Gaza's main hospital, has been damaged and is now out of service after Israeli forces repeatedly targeted the area, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The main communication center in Gaza was also destroyed from repeated Israeli air strikes. Unlike Israel, the Gaza Strip has no air raid sirens or bomb shelters.

'There's No Milk, How Do We Feed Our Children?'

Israel has escalated its attack on Hamas by announcing a complete siege on Gaza strip, even blocking all food, fuel, electricity and other essential supplies to Gaza, even as air strikes continue.

Speaking to The Quint, 58-year-old Ahmad (name changed), a resident of Tel Al-Hawa, a popular neighbourhood on the Gaza Strip that has been turned into rubble, said that his family that survived the bombing, is somehow surviving on bread, but their real challenge is to feed their children, with one of them just a year old.

...my friend's family and I have been hiding in a building with less than half a tank of water. With minimal necessary usage, we can survive for two more days. Without electricity, neither can we use the motor to pump water nor the refrigerator. Shops, mini-markets, supermarkets – everything is destroyed. The ones that still stand tall are now running out of essentials. We cannot get milk to feed our children.

Gaza's Tel Al-Hawa locality is completely destroyed in the Israeli attacks.

(Photo accessed by The Quint)

Human Rights Groups Fear The Ongoing Conflict Will Only Worsen Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza

According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency,

• years of conflict and blockade have left 80% of Gaza’s population dependent on foreign aid

According to the United Nations,

• close to 97% of Gaza's drinking water is contaminated

• nearly 60% of Gaza's residents are refugees

• nearly 60% of Palestinians live in poverty

• nearly 63% of Palestinian youth are unemployed

• food insecurity plagues 63% of Gaza's citizens

Roughly 25 miles long and 2 miles wide, with almost two million people packed into this space, Gaza strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict is spurred by decades-old disputes over land ownership, including,

1. Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, in the 1960s

2. takeover of Palestine by Islamist group Hamas, in the 2000s

3. blockading of the Gaza strip by neighbouring Israel and Egypt in 2007