Gaza ‘mass grave’ of Palestinians, says MSF as Israeli strikes kill 13

CAIRO: Gaza has become a “mass grave” for Palestinians and those trying to help them, medical charity MSF said on Wednesday, as medics said the Israeli military killed at least 13 in the north of the enclave and continued to demolish homes in Rafah in the south.

Palestinian medics said an airstrike killed 10 people, including the well-known writer and photographer, Fatema Hassouna, whose work has captured the struggles faced by her community in Gaza City through the war. A strike on another house further north killed three, they said. There was no comment from the Israeli military.

“Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance. We are witnessing in real time the destruction and forced displacement of the entire population in Gaza,” Amande Bazerolle, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ emergency coordinator in Gaza, said in a statement. “With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care.”

Meanwhile, Israel announced on Wednesday that it had converted 30 percent of Gaza´s territory into a buffer zone as it pressed its unrelenting military offensive, vowing to maintain its blockade on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said that as part of its resumed operations, it had “achieved full operational control over several key areas and routes throughout the Gaza Strip”.

“Approximately 30 percent of the Gaza Strip´s territory is now designated as an Operational Security Perimeter.” It added that Israeli air strikes had hit “approximately 1,200 terror targets” and that “more than 100 targeted eliminations have been carried out” since March 18.

Defence Minister Israel Katz had declared earlier this month that the military was seizing “large areas” of Gaza, leaving it “smaller and more isolated”.Israel said it would keep blocking humanitarian aid entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a “mass grave”, a medical charity said.