Israel - Palestine Conflict. **Mod note in OP - updated 1st August**

Egginacup wrote: »

I've just seen that 2080 Palestinians have been killed since July.

Now that number is quite shocking, but we ought to think about the wounded also. I would imagine that for every death there must be at least 3 who are maimed or badly wounded, whether it be blinded, crippled, amputated, dismembered, burnt, etc,

So for the nearly 2100 Palestinians killed in this campaign, is it safe to assume that almost another 10,000 have been wounded in this effort?

I would say that that is probably a conservative guess. Be that as it may, 2100 Palestinians are now dead and 1000's more are in need of medical assistance. Is a blockade of medical supplies to help them beyond the remit of anybody?

As of 20 July 2014 hospitals in Gaza were ill-equipped and facing severe shortage of various categories of medicine, medical supplies, and fuel.[173] Egypt temporarily reopened the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow medical supplies to enter and injured Palestinians to receive treatment in Egypt.[174] Also, due to the operation, prices of food, including fish and produce, rose dramatically.[175] A 21 July news report stated that over 83,000 Palestinians had taken shelter in U.N. facilities.[176]

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 31 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, over 273,000 Palestinians have been displaced, of which 236,375 are taking shelter in 88 UNRWA schools (over eleven percent of the Gazan population). UNRWA has exhausted its capacity to absorb displaced persons, and overcrowding in shelters risks the outbreak of epidemics. 1.8 million people are affected by a halt or reduction of the water supply, 138 schools and 26 health facilities[59][177][178] have been damaged, 872 homes have been totally destroyed or severely damaged and homes of 5,005 families have been damaged but are still inhabitable. Throughout the Gaza Strip, people receive only 2 hours of electricity per day. The destruction of Gaza’s only power plant has had an immediate effect on the public health situation and reduced water and sanitation services, with hospitals becoming dependent on generators.

OCHA estimated that at least 373,000 children require psychosocial support.[20] "Intense overcrowding, compounded by the limited access of humanitarian staff to certain areas, is increasingly undermining the living conditions at many shelters and raising protection concerns. Water supply has been particularly challenging..."[179] More than 485,000 internally displaced persons are in need of emergency food assistance.[59]

The UN described the level of destruction as without precedent. Oxfam estimates the damage at $5 billion, in an economy with a GNP OF $6.6 billion.[180] Gaza City, home to 500,000, suffered damage to 20-25% of its housing. Beit Hanoun, with 70% of its housing stock damaged, is considered uninhabitable, with 30,000 residents there in need of accommodation. The only power station in the Strip was knocked out on 29 July, and the infrastructure of power transmission lines and sewage pumps and have been severely damaged, with a major sewage pipe catering to 500,000 badly damaged. Among the infrastructure targeted and destroyed by Israel's bombing campaign were 220 factories in various industrial zones, including a major carpentry enterprise, construction companies, a major biscuit factory, dairy farms and livestock, a candy manufacturer, the orange groves of Beit Hanoun, Gaza's largest mosques, and several TV stations. Farms, as a consequence of damage or the presence of unexploded ordnance, are often inaccessible, and the damage to agriculture is estimated at over $200 million. 10 out of 26 hospitals have been closed.

More than 467 Palestinian children have died since July. That is more than the combined number of child fatalities in the two previous conflicts in Gaza.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 3,000 children have been injured, of which an estimated 1,000 will suffer from a lifelong disability. The United Nations estimates at least 373,000 children require direct and specialized psychosocial support. And, based on the total number of adults killed, there may be up to 1,500 children orphaned.

Gazan children’s right to an education has also been severely compromised with at least 25 schools reportedly damaged so severely that they can no longer be used. We speak to Pernille Ironside, chief of UNICEF’s Gaza field office.

"There isn’t a single family in Gaza who hasn’t experienced personally death, injury, the loss of their home, extensive damage, displacement," Ironside says. "The psychological toll that has on a people, it just cannot be overestimated, and especially on children."

Fiolina wrote: »

A 14 floor building containing 50 apartments in the Remal Quarter was destroyed by israel in the last hour. The occupants had 10 minute warning to vacate. (sorry I can't post link)

Witnesses say a 12-storey apartment block in Gaza City has collapsed after being hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Palestinian officials say Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at the building, sending a fireball into the sky and wounding 22 people, including 11 children.

bumper234 wrote: »

And has been proven to be utter bollox. I love how so many believe everything that the Israeli propaganda machine spouts out.

http://www.imemc.org/article/68933?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PalestineNews+%28Palestine+News%29

Israel Retracts False Claim Regarding Alleged Hamas Rocket Base

getzls wrote: »

And you being a terrorist supporter would believe that.