Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
October 04, 2024
Israeli Strikes on Lebanon Kill Dozens of Medical Workers, Shuttering Hospitals
Oct 04, 2024
Israel’s military has carried out its heaviest airstrikes so far on Lebanon with a reported 10 massive bombings overnight in Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs. Lebanon’s health minister reports at least 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including at least 127 children, most of them in the past two weeks. On Thursday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Israeli attacks had made it impossible for the WHO to deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Beirut. He said Israeli strikes have killed 28 health workers in just one 24-hour span, while shuttering dozens of hospitals and clinics.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “In southern Lebanon 37 health facilities have been closed, while in Beirut three hospitals have been forced to fully evacuate staff and patients, and another two were partially evacuated. … Many health workers are not reporting to duty, as they fled the areas where they work due to bombardments.”
Biden Says He Discussed Possible Attack on Iranian Oil Sites with Israeli Leaders
Oct 04, 2024
A Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday U.S. military leaders were consulting with their Israeli counterparts on a response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this week on Israeli military bases and other security sites.
Sabrina Singh: “We continue to engage the Israelis, you know, very frequently. We are certainly talking to them about their response. But what their response might be, I’m just not going to speculate further on.”
At the White House, President Biden acknowledged he had spoken with Israeli leaders to discuss possible attacks on Iran’s oil infrastructure.
Reporter: “Mr. President, would you support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, sir?”
President Joe Biden: “We’re discussing that. I think — I think that would be a little — anyway.”
Biden had said that he did not support Israel striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Biden’s comment rattled energy markets, causing an immediate spike in crude oil prices.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Calls on Muslim Leaders to Unite Against Israeli Aggression
Oct 04, 2024
Iran has threatened an “unconventional response” to any Israeli retaliation, including attacks targeting Israeli infrastructure. Earlier today, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers in Tehran for the first time in nearly five years as he commemorated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel last week in Lebanon. Khamanei called on Muslim leaders to band together to confront Israel.
“We Wish You Could See the Nightmares”: U.S. Health Workers Back from Gaza Write to Biden and Harris
Oct 04, 2024
Israel continues its relentless attacks on Gaza, with Israeli forces blowing up residential buildings near the Nuseirat camp and civilian homes in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. The Palestinian Health Ministry reports at least 14 people were killed and 50 wounded over the last 24 hours.
Here in the United States, a group of nearly 100 physicians, nurses, surgeons and midwives have sent a letter to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris detailing “crimes beyond comprehension” they witnessed in Gaza. They’re calling on the U.S. to support a ceasefire, to end support for Israel’s military and to back an international arms embargo on Israel. Part of the letter reads, “We wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them.”
Israel’s Deadliest Airstrike on West Bank in Decades Kills 18 Palestinians
Oct 04, 2024
An Israeli airstrike on the occupied West Bank has killed at least 18 Palestinians. On Thursday, Israeli fighter jets targeted a crowded cafe in the Tulkarm refugee camp, leaving behind twisted piles of wreckage and flaming debris. This is Nimer Fayyad, the brother of the cafe’s owner who was killed in the attack.
Nimer Fayyad: “The missiles targeted a civilian building. A family was wiped from the civil registry. What was their fault? The family was asleep in their house. There’s no safe place for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves.”
Israel’s military claimed the bombing targeted the head of Hamas’s infrastructure in Tulkarm. It was the largest and deadliest airstrike in the occupied West Bank in more than two decades.
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What Is Israel’s Endgame in Lebanon? Airstrikes Intensify, Hospitals Overwhelmed, 1.2 Million Displaced
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
October 04, 2024
Israel is further escalating its war on Lebanon, carrying out its heaviest airstrikes so far on Beirut overnight in the densely populated southern suburbs. Lebanon’s health minister said Thursday at least 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including at least 127 children, most of them in the past two weeks. More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced. Meanwhile, Beirut hospitals are overwhelmed by a surge in casualties as attacks intensify, and the World Health Organization says Israel’s attacks killed 28 health workers in just one 24-hour span and made it impossible for the WHO to deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Beirut. This comes as the Israeli army appears to be preparing for a deeper ground incursion into southern Lebanon. As tensions continue to escalate in the region, we speak with Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, reporting for the Associated Press, who says Lebanon is getting used to “the new normal” of daily Israeli airstrikes on the capital, mass displacement and ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah forces in the south. “Things are moving at a very, very fast pace … and it is really unclear what the endgame for Israel is.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Lebanon, where Israel carried out its heaviest airstrikes so far in Beirut with a reported series of 10 massive strikes overnight in the densely populated southern suburbs. Lebanon’s health minister said Thursday at least 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including at least 127 children, most of them in the past two weeks.
Lebanon’s state-run national news agency is also reporting Israeli airstrikes damaged the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, closing the main road used by tens of thousands to flee Israel’s attacks on Lebanon. More than 1.2 million Lebanese have now been displaced.
Meanwhile, Beirut hospitals are overwhelmed. This is Dr. Jihad Saadeh, general director of Rafik al-Hariri Hospital, largest Lebanese public hospital.
DR. JIHAD SAADEH: [translated] The hardest thing I’ve seen was when a father was searching for his son. In the end, we found out that his son was with us, but only in pieces.
AMY GOODMAN: On Thursday, the World Health Organization director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Israeli attacks had made it impossible to deliver a large shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Beirut. He said Israeli strikes killed 28 health workers in just one 24-hour period, while shuttering dozens of hospitals and clinics. At least 50 paramedics have been killed in Lebanon over the past two weeks.
This comes as the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon told Al Jazeera the Israeli army has asked its troops to leave their positions close to the border amidst a potential escalation of the Israeli ground incursion.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut today and met with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, just hours after Israeli airstrikes hit an area near the airport where he landed.
A Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday U.S. military leaders are consulting with their Israeli counterparts on a response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack earlier this week on Israeli military bases and other security sites.
SABRINA SINGH: We continue to engage the Israelis, you know, very frequently. We are certainly talking to them about their response. But what their response might be, I’m just not going to speculate further on.
AMY GOODMAN: At the White House, President Biden acknowledged he had spoken with Israeli leaders. He has said he does not support Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear sites, but discussed possible attacks on Iran’s oil infrastructure.
REPORTER: Mr. President, would you support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, sir?
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: We’re discussing that. I think — I think that would be a little — anyway.
AMY GOODMAN: Biden’s comment rattled energy markets, causing an immediate spike in crude oil prices.
Meanwhile, Iran has threatened an “unconventional response” to any Israeli retaliation, including attacks targeting Israeli infrastructure. Earlier today, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers in Tehran for the first time in nearly five years as he commemorated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel last week in Lebanon. Khamanei called on Muslim leaders to band together to confront Israel.
As tensions continue to escalate in the region, we go to Beirut, Lebanon. We’re joined by Kareem Chehayeb. He is reporting on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq for the Associated Press.
Thank you so much for being with us, Kareem. Can you explain the situation on the ground after this night of massive air attacks by Israel?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: So, it’s become next to normal that Israel is conducting a series of airstrikes, roughly about a dozen, mostly in the southern Beirut suburbs, which has a lot of people in it still. A large number of people are evacuating, but there are still people who live there. The strikes are getting far more intense, particularly last night. We heard a strike that, you know, had some sort of — numerous explosions that happened after that, as well.
Meanwhile, every day the Israeli military is calling on the immediate evacuation of about another dozen or so towns from the south. So, it’s been several days where they’ve been doing that. There’s been a few dozen towns, and medical workers have been having a very hard time operating there. The Lebanese Red Cross, while relocating wounded people from the south, you know, were caught in an Israeli airstrike where four of their volunteers were wounded, and a Lebanese soldier was killed in that evacuation operation. And, you know, there are reports now that one of the most important hospitals in the southeast is closing its doors because of a strike that hit very close to the hospital.
So, this appears to becoming the new normal in this current situation. You know, there’s the ground incursion in the south, where Hezbollah and the Israeli military are clashing in border towns and along the border. Israel is calling for more and more immediate evacuations from southern Lebanon, very far north into the country. And it appears that, you know, strikes overnight in the southern suburbs are going to continue. And now with the airstrike that struck the main road towards the main crossing between Lebanon and Syria, generally speaking, people are concerned that the airport could be next, given that this had also happened in 2006, which was the last time Hezbollah and the Israeli military had a war.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the number of paramedics, doctors, medical staff who have been killed just in the last few days, Kareem, and what kind of effect this bombing has had on the hospitals, and what the World Health Organization head, Ghebreyesus, has said about trying to get aid into Beirut right now?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Indeed, there have been several cases of paramedics being killed in Israeli strikes, but the number has certainly surged. In this particular escalation, there have been dozens who were killed, whether they were in the middle of an operation or whether they were in their offices. There was a strike in central Beirut, just a few hundred meters from where I am right now, into an office for the Islamic Health Committee, which is Hezbollah’s medical arm, and at least seven paramedics and first responders were killed in that strike. And at a time where evacuations orders have increased, at a time where strikes have intensified, the hospitals are really struggling to keep up with the number of patients. And, of course, you know, medical staff, paramedics, first responders are also struggling a lot to get people out. And this could be — this appears to be a trend going forward in this conflict.
AMY GOODMAN: And what have you been able to find out about Israel using white phosphorus? Explain what it is and where you believe it may have been used.
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Sure. So, early on in the conflict, you know, Israel was initially accused by residents and human rights groups of using white phosphorus in southern Lebanon, especially in villages along the border, which are very rural. They’re agrarian. There’s lots of greenery and fields.
Now, white phosphorus is — basically, white phosphorus is a very dangerous weapon, where it sort of — it burns all the way to the bone if in contact with human skin. You know, it can cause severe respiratory illnesses, as well, if you inhale too much of it. Now, the concern is that if it’s used in heavily populated areas, it is considered a violation of international law. Now, Israel always says that it uses it as a smokescreen or to — you know, primarily as a smokescreen, not to target civilians or as a weapon of war. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty and other organizations have corroborated information where they have seen that this is not entirely the case. That’s what they concluded.
Now, the conversation months later, just the other day, has sort of come back. In that strike I had told you about just a moment ago where — in central Beirut, that hit that office, and another strike nearby in the southern suburbs, you know, people were talking a lot about unpleasant smells, and state media had reported that there was use of white phosphorus. Now, there is no confirmation of that yet. We had spoken to the health minister, Firass Abiad, who said that they’re in the process of verifying it. There have been no updates on that, but, you know, it would not have been the first time Israel used white phosphorus in Lebanon. But the previous incidents have been in southern Lebanon. But there has been no sort of official confirmation yet, but that’s sort of what’s been reported.
AMY GOODMAN: Kareem, if you could also talk about who Israel is claiming they’re trying to kill right now, the target, Hashem Safieddine, a cousin and presumed successor to the assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Absolutely. So, you know, after Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated, every expert from every think tank and every corner that I spoke to believed that Hashem Safieddine would be his successor. He’s a senior figure in Hezbollah for many years, plays a very important role within the institution. He is a relative. He’s a cousin of Hassan Nasrallah. And his son is married to the daughter of the late senior Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in 2020. So he’s very connected to Tehran. He’s very connected to Hezbollah.
It is unclear whether, you know, he survived the strike, whether he was in the building where the strike took place. Hezbollah have not yet commented on it. But if he was targeted and killed or wounded, this follows a certain pattern over the past couple of weeks where the Israeli military, through its strikes, have been targeting senior Hezbollah leaders. And they have targeted senior Hezbollah military leaders and also members within its institution. And this could be a continuation of that pattern, but there’s no information on that.
But it is true that Hashem Safieddine is widely seen as Hassan Nasrallah’s successor. And it is very unclear whether they’re going to pick him or somebody else or when they will make that decision. When the Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem spoke a few days ago, he said that they will make a decision at the soonest possibility. And it’s unclear how they’re going to navigate with the situation, but it is widely seen that if Safieddine was targeted, it’s really unknown who to expect would replace Hassan Nasrallah.
AMY GOODMAN: And now the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he is visiting Lebanon to make clear Iran will always stand with people of Lebanon. Can you talk about the significance of the Iranian foreign minister being in Lebanon right now and of the supreme leader, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, holding the prayers in Tehran, presiding over them publicly for the first time in five years, as he commemorated the Hezbollah leader who was killed by Israel last week?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Yeah. So, the Iranian foreign minister has been holding meetings with senior officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who’s right behind me in this building. And, you know, it appears that, in the words that they’re saying, that Iran is trying to garner international support for Lebanon, trying to pile the pressure diplomatically on Israel. That’s how they’ve been spinning it. And they’ve talked a lot in that sense. And, you know, for them to come at a time like this is certainly interesting. Iranian senior military officials have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria over the past year. And there were a lot of questions whether the Israeli military would allow his plane to land at Beirut airport.
Now the question really is: What happens behind the scenes? Right? So, the Lebanese government, including allies of Hezbollah, you know, they have been trying to push for a ceasefire and handle this diplomatically. And it’s unclear what that conversation looks like with Iran, as well as their conversations with, you know, namely, the United States and Paris. You know, this also comes not long after Iran met with Saudi officials in Qatar. And it’s unclear whether this indicates that they are trying to work something out or not. You know, Iran has not given a lot of statements. The foreign minister did not give any statements after meeting the prime minister, issued a statement after meeting the speaker of Parliament. And he sort of talked about maintaining support for Lebanon. And there’s a lot of talk about humanitarian aid. It wasn’t anything that indicated it’s going to be a significant shift in this conflict. And so, it appears that whatever changes will happen will be seen on the battlefields in the south or in Beirut.
AMY GOODMAN: And the significance of the death of a Lebanese soldier carrying out a rescue operation in southern Lebanon, another one injured, Kareem, what this means, and the Israeli government saying the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon should move? How quickly do you see this escalating even further, as we wrap up?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Certainly. You know, the Lebanese army announcing that two of its soldiers were killed in Israeli airstrikes in a single day in different instances, and on top of the intensified airstrikes, on top of the calls for dozens of villages and towns to evacuate, including a provincial capital in the south, there’s a lot of concerns in Lebanon about, you know, where this ground incursion could lead to and how long this will last. You know, the public works minister, after talking about the road to the border being bombed, is saying that he is concerned even about now a siege from air, as well, almost hinting that the airport could be a target.
So, you know, things are moving at a very, very fast pace, the displacement, the airstrikes. And it is really unclear what the endgame for Israel is. They say that they want to weaken Hezbollah, they want to create an environment that’s safe for their displaced residents to go back north. But it’s not really clear what that benchmark is, what those objectives look like in practice.
AMY GOODMAN: Kareem Chehayeb, first of all, stay safe. I want to thank you so much for being with us, AP journalist reporting on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, a journalist for the Associated Press, speaking to us from Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.
As Israel continues its relentless attacks on Gaza, we will go directly to Gaza. Stay with us.
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War in Lebanon “Giving More Space” for Israel to Continue Slaughter in Gaza: Journalist Akram al-Satarri
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
October 04, 2024
As Israel’s military escalates its attacks on Lebanon, it has continued its relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, where almost a year of war has now wiped 902 entire Palestinian families off the civil registry. There are another 1,300 families where only one family member has survived. The official death toll in Gaza has reached nearly 41,800, but that is believed to be a vast undercount. Gaza-based journalist Akram al-Satarri says one year into Israel’s war, the medical and humanitarian crisis remains unchanged. He describes some of the horrific injuries suffered by Palestinians, including many children, that have resulted in mass amputation of limbs, and says people are in a constant struggle for shelter and safety. “The suffering is continuous, and now the war in Lebanon is adding further burdens on the Palestinians and is giving more space for the Israeli forces to continue the bombardment in different areas,” says al-Satarri.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We turn now to Gaza, where authorities say Israel’s yearlong war has now wiped out a shocking 902 entire families off the civil registry, another 1,300 families where only one family member has survived. The official death toll in Gaza has topped 41,800, but that’s believed to be a vast undercount. On one day in Gaza this week, Israel killed over a hundred people, with 51 in Khan Younis alone, including 12 children. Over the last 24 hours, the Palestinian Health Ministry reports at least 14 people were killed, 50 wounded in Gaza as Israel bombed residential buildings near the Nuseirat camp and struck civilian homes in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
This comes as Israeli forces have killed at least 50 Palestinians across the West Bank since launching raids on August 28th. An Israeli airstrike Thursday on the Tulkarm refugee camp killed at least 18 Palestinians when Israeli fighter jets targeted a crowded cafe, the largest and deadliest airstrike in the occupied West Bank in more than two decades. Israel’s military claimed the bombing targeted the head of Hamas’s infrastructure in Tulkarm. There is a West Bank-wide strike today protesting that attack.
But we’re staying in Gaza right now, where most corporate media in the United States rarely get a report from, as Israel has banned international journalists from being there. For more, we are joined by Akram al-Satarri. He is a journalist based in Gaza, standing outside the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah and in central Gaza.
Very little attention, Akram, is being paid right now to what is happening in Gaza as the attacks intensify there, because of the attention on Lebanon and Iran. Can you describe what’s happening on the ground?
AKRAM AL-SATARRI: Well, the situation in Gaza is still the same for the last one year. The corporate media is not paying enough attention for the situation in Gaza, not because of the war in Lebanon, but because of the embarrassment that is caused by the fact that the Palestinians have been suffering for such a very long time, and the suffering has reached all different components and aspects of their life.
Families were lost, like you have just said. The children are living now with their parents, as you have just rightly said. Some people ended up living alone without their families, elderly people, as you have just said. Some children are left in the hospitals for strangers to care for them as foster family, because they lost their families, and no other family members remaining to look after them.
The international community, including the Arab region powers and the international powers, have been talking for the past year about the importance of upholding the principles of the international humanitarian law; however, they failed to observe those international rules. They failed to maintain the dignity of the Palestinians. They failed to maintain the right of Palestinians to a decent life. They failed to maintain the right of the Palestinians to shelter. They failed to uphold the right of the Palestinians to access medical care.
And because of that, we have a very large number of Palestinians, around 95,000 Palestinians, who need urgent medical care outside of Gaza. However, they are staying in Gaza. Some of them are already dying because the very lacking situation when it comes to the medical supplies, and also for the medical and surgical expertise that his needed to conduct such precise surgical interventions to save their lives or to improve their health conditions or to prevent any kind of disability.
Two-point-three million people in Gaza have been subjected to continuous evacuation orders, where they are asked by Israeli forces to move from one area to another. One hundred fifty thousand people were moving in 24 hours in Khan Younis area. Around 250,000, a quarter-million, were asked also to move all together in three hours in Gaza central area. And now I think Israel is contemplating some more options, including the forceful transfer of the people in the Gaza north to the Gaza south and declaring the Gaza north as a military zone.
So, the problem of the Palestinians is that the international community could not dictate any kind of solution, could not even make Israel reconsider its positions when it comes to the way it has been dealing with the larger Palestinian population, 2.34 million people, including women, around 1 million child, because around half of the Palestinian population is under 18.
So, the suffering is still continuous. And without the war in Lebanon, Palestinians were not helped a lot, and all they could access is below the minimum of any average human being outside of the Gaza Strip. So, the suffering is continuous. And now the war in Lebanon is adding further burdens on the Palestinians and is giving more space for the Israeli forces to continue the bombardment in different areas. In Khan Younis area, like you said, in one night, 54 people were killed. Twenty-two of them were same-family members, and 12 of them were children. Today, just now, few minutes ago, four women were killed in an area in Gaza, central area, four women — two old women and two of their daughters. Some other grandsons and granddaughters were injured.
And the sound of sirens in this place is also reminding us of the continuation of the crisis of the people of Palestine and of the political and moral failure by the international community to help the Palestinians and to realize their very very basic rights. People are just passing by. Right behind me, you can see now people are mourning the death of their dears, nonstop flow of the people, nonstop flow of the mothers, the daughters, the sisters, the sons, the grandparents, who are coming there just to see off their dears. Some of them are lucky enough to make it to the hospital because the body of their dears is in the morgue. But many more, up to 10,000 Palestinians, are still missing.
Missing means they have already been decomposed under the rubble of their houses. Missing means there have been some people who are living and eating and sleeping in the hope that they would find the decomposed body of their dears that has already become something that melted under soil. Missing means some families that were scattered, and they will never be reunited, that they’re still suffering and they’re still hoping justice would be served.
This is a glimpse in the life of the Palestinians. And this is part of the suffering that the people have been living and are still living. And this is only one aspect of the suffering that I have been seeing in Gaza. Food is still very scarce. Cooking gas is still very scarce. Water is extremely polluted. Living conditions are extremely below the standard. Some of the diseases are befalling the people in the Gaza Strip. Children have been suffering from digestive problems. Elderly people have been suffering from digestive problems. They have not been living in decent shelters. They are using only sheets of clothes to make sure that they stay. So, everything that has to do with the humanity is compromised in the Gaza Strip and is missing.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk, Akram, about the children who are wounded? More than a thousand children in Gaza have lost at least one limb. We have a conflict in Gaza that has created the term ”WCNSF,” “wounded child, no surviving family.” Can you talk more about this as you cover what’s happening there?
AKRAM AL-SATARRI: Well, I had the chance to meet some of the people, not only children, but elderly people, who are affected by the ongoing bombardment. And also, the weapons that are being used against the people in Gaza have been causing some kind of strange cuts. I spoke to one woman around 35, 37 years old. She was telling me that there was a missile that hit her home, and all of a sudden something — the missile penetrated the soil, and something went out of the soil, cutting her two legs. And now she has to live with two amputations, and she needs to be trained as to how she can respond to her basic needs. There were some attempts by international organizations to build some limbs, artificial limbs center. They are facing a considerable challenge bringing in the needed stuff, bringing in the needed materials.
The children are bearing the brunt of those things. In Nasser Hospital, in Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, the intervention hospital, I have seen children with different degrees of the injuries and also with different amputations. Some of them lost their two limbs. Some of them lost one limb. Some of them lost three limbs. Some of them lost sight. And they are all in need, number one, to training to make sure that they can be reintegrated in life and that, and more importantly, they can deal with the reality that has unfolded after they have been injured. Number two, they are facing a great challenge: the very lacking situation that Gaza is living. Again, people are struggling to secure the food, let alone the medical consumables, the medication, the bandages that are needed for the dressing. So, their life is extremely complicated.
And I have seen different people who were just talking to me about their condition and who were asked to take their children out of the hospital. And they were telling me, because somehow I was communicating with them to know the exact situation of their children. They were telling me, “How can we probably take our children back home when we have no home? How can I take a child with two amputations in two limbs, in two legs, and they cannot walk, and they need to find some appropriate and conducive, adapted environment for them to be able to survive and to live with, adapt with the new disability? And how can we take them home when they have no home and when we are living in tents?” Tents that are erected — in al-Mawasi area, they are erected on the sand, close to the beach. Now by the tidal movement increasing — and there is one more bombardment, if you could hear it just now. With the tidal movement, they are now soaking in seawater. So, a person who is not amputated is suffering with this. Now you can imagine the suffering of a child who’s living in a tent that is not equipped to deal with his disability.
So, the situation is very lacking. And the most important thing is that the number of children who are like that is increasing because, again, of the ongoing bombardment. One hundred thirteen people were killed in the last 72 hours, and around 400 were injured. Around half of them are children. And you will definitely find some children who lost their limbs among the people who are affected, and that brings more suffering to the lives of the people, and that increases the number of the children who are suffering, with no clear answers as to how can they be safe.
Now there are some attempts to bring children outside of Gaza. Like, in the last few days, around 70 children were leaving outside Gaza. But when you have around 1,000 children in need to limbs, and they are not allowed to leave Gaza, and they have also some medical course to be followed, and they need advanced medical care because of some of the infections in their fresh amputations and the wounds, the situation is very critical. And again, the international community fail to bring comfort to the life of those children after all they have seen.
AMY GOODMAN: Akram al-Satarri, I want to thank you so much for being with us, a journalist based in Gaza, joining us from outside the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. Please, stay safe.
When we come back, we will continue to talk about children, but children here in the United States, separated. Oscar-winner Errol Morris has made a new documentary about family separation, based on the book by NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff. We’ll speak with both of them in a moment.