Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #5 [EN/AR/HE]

KEY POINTS

Information on humanitarian needs is as of 12:00, while casualty figures and the number of people displaced are updated as of 21:00.

  • Heavy Israeli bombardments from the air, sea, and land have continued almost uninterrupted across the Gaza Strip, demolishing entire sections of neighbourhoods. Palestinian armed groups in Gaza continued their indiscriminate rocket firing towards Israeli population centres.

  • At 14:00 hrs, Gaza’s sole power plant ran out of fuel and was forced to stop functioning, triggering an immediate black-out throughout Gaza that continues. This followed Israel’s halt of its electricity and fuel supply to Gaza on 8 October. The Humanitarian Coordinator has issued a statement calling for all relevant parties to facilitate safe access of humanitarian goods and personnel.

  • According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, between 17:30 yesterday and 14:00 today, a total of 270 Palestinians were killed, and 1,089 others injured as a result of Israeli attacks. The cumulative casualty toll in Gaza since the start of the hostilities, as of 14:00 reached at least 1,100 fatalities and 5,339 injuries. Additionally, Israeli media sources reported that the bodies of about 1,500 Palestinian members of armed groups killed in Israel are being held by the Israeli authorities.

  • As of 9:00 am today, according to Israeli media reports, more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed by Palestinians in Israel, and, according to Israel Ministry of Health, at least 3,192 people have been injured. The vast majority of the Israeli casualties occurred on 7 October.

  • According to Israeli sources, between 100 and 150 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, some of whom are women and children, as well as some foreign nationals, have been captured and forcibly taken into Gaza.

  • Mass displacement across the Gaza Strip continues. The cumulative number of displaced people increased by 30 percent over the past 24 hours, now totaling 338,934, of whom over two thirds are taking shelter in UNRWA schools.

  • The scope of damage sustained by civilian infrastructure is also of increasing concern, with reports on major damage sustained to electricity, water and communication networks, mostly in Gaza city and northern Gaza.

  • In the West Bank, four Palestinians were killed today by Israeli forces during a settler attack in Qusra village (Nablus).