Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of at least three Palestinians, as a United Nations report detailed the devastating long-term economic collapse caused by the ongoing aggression.
The aggression underscores the continued hostilities since the collapse of a temporary ceasefire, with local sources reporting new airstrikes and artillery fire in Khan Younis, Rafah, and central Gaza.
According to a medical source, Mahmoud Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Shab was martyred and another individual wounded after being targeted by an Israeli drone near the Al-Farabi School in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis. The wounded were transported to the already strained Nasser Hospital.
Separately, a Palestinian man was martyred and others were wounded when Israeli occupation forces targeted a group of people east of the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Earlier on Wednesday, Iyad Fadl al-Qahwaji succumbed to wounds sustained in a previous Israeli airstrike in the Bani Suheila area.
Further Israeli occupation military activity was reported Wednesday morning, with warplanes launching an airstrike on Rafah and helicopters opening fire east of Khan Younis.
Mounting Casualties and Widespread Destruction
These latest incidents add to the hundreds of violations reportedly committed by Israeli occupation forces since the end of a brief humanitarian pause on December 1, 2023. According to Palestinian sources, these actions have resulted in 349 fatalities and 871 injuries since that date.
This ongoing occupation military campaign began on October 7, 2023. The conflict has resulted in a severe human cost, with nearly 70,000 fatalities and approximately 171,000 wounded, according to Gaza health authorities. The offensive has also caused massive destruction, devastating an estimated 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The human impact of the war was further quantified in a recent report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which concluded that the offensive has set back human development in Gaza by 69 years and caused one of the worst economic collapses ever recorded.
