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Israel will ask US Congress to pressure South Africa to withdraw genocide case at ICJ: Israeli media

As reported by Israeli news website Walla, a classified Israeli Foreign Ministry document said that Israeli officials want members of the US Congress to warn South Africa that there will be serious consequences for continuing the case against Israel.

Middle East Monitor

Humanitarian Situation Update #215

Gaza Strip

9 September 2024

A Palestinian girl wiping the floor of a heavily damaged house in Abasan Al Kabira, area of Khan Younis. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden, 7 September 2024.Key Highlights

• The second phase of the Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign concluded on 8 September, reaching 256,572 children in Khan Younis and Rafah over four days. Preparations are now ongoing for the third phase, which is scheduled to take place in northern Gaza from 10 to 13 September. 
• A new Israeli evacuation order in northern Gaza, the first in over two weeks, includes areas where local pauses had been agreed for polio vaccination. 
• The number of humanitarian missions and movements within Gaza denied access by the Israeli authorities has nearly doubled in August compared with July (105 vs. 53). 
• Half of all essential medicine is not available in Gaza, with life-saving medication, like insulin, running out.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air and land continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, southwest Gaza city, eastern Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, and east as well as south Rafah, with heavy fighting, also continue to be reported, alongside Palestinian rocket fire at Israel. 
• Between the afternoons of 5 and 8 September, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 94 Palestinians were killed and 307 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 8 September 2024, at least 40,972 Palestinians were killed and 94,761 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are some of the deadly incidents reported between 6 and 8 September: 
• On 6 September, six Palestinians, including four women, were reportedly killed and five others injured when a residential building was hit near Bader Mosque in Az Zaytoun area, in Gaza city. 
• On 6 September, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp in northern Deir al Balah. 
• On 6 September, five Palestinians were killed, including two women and two unidentified corpses recovered in pieces, and at least 10 others were injured when an apartment was hit in Al Yarmouk street, in central Khan Younis. 
• On 7 September, five Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house was hit in Al Bureij Refugee Camp in northern Deir al Balah. 
• On 7 September, at least eight Palestinians, including a boy, were reportedly killed and others injured in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in northern Deir al Balah. 
• On 7 September, six Palestinians, including two children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit near the entrance of Al Bureij refugee Camp, in northern Deir al Balah. 
• On 8 September, five Palestinians including the Deputy Director for the Civil Defence (PCD) were reportedly killed and others injured when their house was hit in Jabalya. According to the PCD, the number of PCD staff killed so far has risen to 83. 
• Between the afternoons of 6 and 9 September, no Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 9 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,540 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 340 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,271 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. 
• The second phase of the polio vaccination campaign concluded on 8 September in southern Gaza, with a total of 256,572 children reached in Khan Younis and Rafah over four days. Meanwhile, following the completion of the first phase in central Gaza on 3 September, four large health facilities continued to administer vaccines to cover any additional needs, with a total of 195,555 children immunized in Deir al Balah to-date. Overall, the first round of the campaign is almost 70 per cent complete, with 446,163 children (229,324 males and 216,839 females) already vaccinated out of the 640,000 targeted throughout the Strip. Preparations are now ongoing for the third phase, which is scheduled to take place in northern Gaza from 10 to 13 September. This will conclude the first vaccination round, with the second set to commence in four weeks’ time. The use of text messages (SMS) has been key in informing the population about the campaign, with the two national mobile network operators (MNOs) - Wataniya and Jawwal - having worked closely with humanitarian partners to support the polio response. On 31 August, the first SMS addressing all people in Gaza was successfully delivered to some 1.2 million users across the two mobile networks. The message by the Ministry of Health announced the onset of the campaign in three phases across the Strip and the corresponding dates in each location. Three other targeted text messages were subsequently sent to people in central Gaza on 2 September and in southern Gaza on 4 and 6 September, providing further details about the vaccination roll-out in each area. Social media groups also served as an important source of information regarding the campaign. 
• Aid operations in Gaza continue to be disrupted by network outages, with local MNOs and internet service providers (ISPs) facing significant challenges due to increased movement restrictions, damaged infrastructure, and lack of fuel and spare parts. On 8 September, internet service was cut off for about five hours in the central and southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel). The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) is also struggling to deliver services due to severe limitations pertaining to the import of equipment. Since 7 October 2023, the import of only 20 satellite phones, 30 digital VHF radios, four VHF repeaters, and four solar power solutions has been approved by Israeli authorities. Damaged or destroyed equipment, along with lengthy import processes, further hampers ETC’s operations. Limited communication services do not only hamper the ability of humanitarian partners to deliver services, but also poses a significant risk for people in Gaza to access services, be aware of Israeli-issued evacuation orders and more. 
• Humanitarian access remains severely hindered, as the denial of missions by the Israeli authorities within Gaza almost doubled in August, compared with July (105 vs. 53). Other factors affecting access include ongoing hostilities, a lack of internal security (including looting) and attacks on aid convoys, the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), the destruction of key connecting roads, and conditions at Israeli checkpoints. In southern Gaza, despite an overall increase in planned humanitarian movements submitted for the Israeli authorities to facilitate, from 543 in July to 603 in August, the number of facilitated missions in southern Gaza dropped by 28 per cent, from 250 in July to 179 in August. In northern Gaza, the number of facilitated aid missions increased by 10 per cent, from 67 to 74. However, the number of missions denied access rose by 140 per cent, from 30 to 72. These trends have severely disrupted the delivery of life-saving assistance, including water, sanitation, and hygiene services, health care, and fuel urgently needed for the operation of critical health facilities. 
• For the second consecutive school year, over 600,000 students in Gaza are being deprived of accessing formal education, as 9 September would have marked the beginning of the new study year. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, over 10,000 school students have been killed, and 90 per cent of school buildings have been damaged since October 2023. Furthermore, according to an assessment conducted by the Education Cluster, UNICEF and Save the Children, 53 per cent of schools sheltering IDPs have been directly hit. Recent examples include incidents on 6 and 7 September, when 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a tent housing internally displaced persons in Halima Al Sadia School in Jabalya Camp and a prayer hall inside Amr Ibn Al Aas school in Gaza city, were hit. According to UNRWA, no official schooling is available in any of their 200 schools, but recreational activities and psychosocial support are provided in some of them. 
• On 9 September, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation order, the first since 25 August, affecting four neighbourhoods in northwest Beit Lahia and Jabalya in northern Gaza. According to the Israeli military, the order was issued because Palestinian armed groups launched rocket fire from these areas into Israel. These localities had already been subjected to previous evacuation orders and residents have been instructed to move southwards. Initial mapping indicates that, before 7 October, over 28,000 people were residing in these areas, with most reportedly forced out by previous evacuation orders and ongoing hostilities. Additionally, parts of these areas have been designated to be included in the ongoing polio vaccination campaign. The continuing issuance of these orders is deepening the humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of people, especially those who have been displaced multiple times. As of 9 September, and since October 2023, more than 55 evacuation orders remain in effect, covering up to 86 per cent of Gaza. As of 9 September, only 11 per cent of the Gaza Strip has not been placed under evacuation orders.
• The health-care system remains in dire condition. The Health Cluster reports that about 50 per cent of essential medicines are not available, and primary health-care centres are facing critically low levels of insulin. Routine vaccines such as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to protect infants from tuberculosis, and DTP to immunize them against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, are also nearly exhausted; further risking newborns. On 1 September, after facing many challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) was able to reach the Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza to provide medications and supplies as well as 20 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds to expand inpatient capacity at the Indonesian Hospital. Items delivered included oncology medication for 200 patients, immunosuppressants covering the needs of 500 patients for three months and psychotropics to support 400 patients with mental health disorders. The mission also facilitated the deployment of a new Emergency Medical Team (EMT) to the Indonesian Hospital and the rotation to different medical facilities of an EMT pediatric surgeon, who had performed over 300 specialized surgeries, including tumor resections, from the Kamal Adwan Hospital to southern Gaza. Additionally, the WHO team transported one critical patient with below-knee and above-elbow amputations and his accompaniers from the Kamal Adwan Hospital to the International Medical Corps (IMC) Field Hospital in Deir al Balah, pending further referral abroad. Despite all efforts made by humanitarian partners, health facilities in northern Gaza continue to face severe fuel shortages. On 9 September, the Director of the Indonesian Hospital warned that, due to the acute scarcity of diesel fuel, the facility was forced to suspend several services to prolong operating hours. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)similarly informed that its teams in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates are operating at minimum capacity due to critical fuel shortages which have been ongoing for nearly three weeks.