Israel announces it has killed 200 Palestinians in its siege of al-Shifa Hospital – Mondoweiss

Casualties 

• 32,552 + killed* and at least 74,980 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
• 450+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.**
• Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,139.
• 597 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.***

*Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed this figure on its Telegram channel. Some rights groups estimate the death toll to be much higher when accounting for those presumed dead.

** The death toll in the West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to the PA’s Ministry of Health on March 17, this is the latest figure.

*** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”

Key Developments 

• 62 Palestinians killed and 91 wounded in 6 massacres committed by Israeli forces across the Gaza Strip, says Palestinian health ministry.
• Israeli army announced in a statement that it has killed 200 Palestinians in al-Shifa hospital and its vicinity since its second raid on the hospital 11 days ago.
• UNICEF: Israel directly targeted 212 schools in the Gaza Strip since October 7, including 53 completely destroyed.
• Israeli state media says Israel is preparing for the invasion of Rafah, as Netanyahu reschedules Israeli delegation visit to Washington to discuss the Rafah operation.
• Lebanon: Israeli strikes kill nine Lebanese in Naqoura and Teirhaifa in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah announces its fighters attacked an Israeli military position and two Israeli settlements across the border.
• A Palestinian child was pronounced dead by starvation in the Kamal Odwan hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, raising the number of children dead due to starvation in the Gaza Strip to 30.
• West Bank: Three Israeli settlers were wounded in a shooting attack in the Jordan Valley. Israeli forces close entrances to Jericho and the Allenby bridge crossing to Jordan, the only border crossing available for West Bank Palestinians.
• West Bank:  a 19-year-old Palestinian in Jenin died of wounds caused by an Israeli airstrike on the Jenin refugee camp earlier on Wednesday. Israeli forces also raided Hebron, Nablus, and the suburban areas of eastern Jerusalem, arresting 25 Palestinians overnight. The number of Palestinians arrested since October 7 has reached 7,845.

Israel’s assault on Gaza kills 62, wounds 91 in last 24 hours

The Palestinian health ministry announced in a statement early on Thursday that Israeli forces killed at least 62 Palestinians and wounded 91 in the last 24 hours. The ministry said during this time that Israeli forces committed six massacres across the Gaza Strip.

In Gaza City, Israeli bombings targeted two family houses in the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital, killing 28 Palestinians. In the Shujaiyah neighborhood, east of Gaza, Israeli bombings killed three Palestinians.

In the al-Zaitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, Israeli strikes on aid distribution volunteers killed four Palestinians, while eight aid truck drivers were killed by Israeli bombings while attempting to reach northern Gaza.

In the central Gaza Strip, Israeli bombings killed five Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp and two more in the neighboring al-Maghazi refugee camp. More Israeli strikes killed a woman and her daughter in the town of al-Zawaideh.

In the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli bombings killed 15 Palestinians in two airstrikes on Rafah, while four mother Palestinians were killed in a strike on a greenhouse near an encampment of displaced families.

Israeli army says it has killed 200 Palestinians in and around al-Shifa Hospital

The Israeli army announced in a statement that its troops have killed 200 Palestinians in al-Shifa Hospital and its vicinity since its second raid of al-Shifa started 11 days ago.

The army statement said that the Palestinians killed were “terrorists,” adding that it continues to fight Palestinian resistance factions in the al-Shifa area.

The latest victim of Israeli fire was Palestinian journalist Mohammad Abu Skheil, a reporter for the ‘Sawt al-Quds’ local radio, who was reported dead after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the surroundings of al-Shifa. Abu Skheil’s death raises the number of journalists killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7 to 197.

Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance groups announced they continue to fight Israeli forces in al-Shifa’s vicinity. On Wednesday, Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released footage of fighters targeting Israeli armored troops with anti-armor projectiles, indicating that it was taken in al-Shifa’s vicinity.

Israeli forces raided al-Shifa in November and forcibly evacuated medical staff, patients, and families taking refuge in the largest hospital complex in the Palestinian territory. Palestinians returned to al-Shifa in February after a brief Israeli withdrawal. Israeli forces raided al-Shifa again 11 days ago.

UNICEF: Israel has bombed 212 schools in Gaza since October 7

Around 80% of all schools in the Gaza Strip have been damaged to some degree, since the beginning of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip in October, according to a report by UNICEF.

The report indicated that 212 schools were “directly hit” by Israeli strikes, including 53 schools that have been “completely destroyed,” according to satellite imagery.

According to UNICEF, the majority of school damage is concentrated in northern Gaza, where 82% of schools have been damaged or destroyed.

The report also pointed out that 107 of the damaged or destroyed schools are run by UNRWA. The report also noted that 320 schools have been used as shelters by Palestinian families displaced by the war, 188 of which have been hit by Israeli strikes.

On Tuesday, the Palestinian education ministry said in a report that at least 5,800 Palestinian students have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the war in October.

3 Palestinians killed in Jenin, 20 arrested across the West Bank

A 19-year-old Palestinian was pronounced dead on Thursday after succumbing to his wounds caused by an Israeli airstrike on the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday.

The victim was identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Health as Walid Al-Asta, from Jenin. The strike had previously killed three Palestinians.

Also on Thursday morning, three Israeli settlers were wounded in a shooting attack at an Israeli bus north of Jericho, in the occupied Jordan Valley.

Following the attack, the Israeli army imposed a closure on the city of Jericho and closed the Allenby Bridge crossing, the only border crossing available for Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israeli forces also tightened checkpoint control in the Jordan Valley, inspecting Palestinians’ identity documents.

On Thursday morning, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said in a statement that Israeli forces had arrested 25 Palestinians across the West Bank overnight.

Arrests accompanied Israeli military raids on Hebron, Nablus, Shu’fat, and Qalandia in the northern Jerusalem area, and Tubas in the northeast West Bank.

The number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces since October 7 reached 7,845. Currently, Israel holds more than 9,100 Palestinians in its jails, including 50 women, 200 minors, and more than 3,500 administrative detainees who are held without charges.