Israeli strike kills senior rescue service official in Gaza
Mohammad Morsi and four of his family died in attack on his house, health officials say
08 September 2024 - 16:14
by Nidal al-Mughrabi
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
An Israeli tank at the Israel-Gaza border. Picture: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS
Cairo — An Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia on Sunday killed Mohammad Morsi, deputy director of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, and four of his family, health officials said.
The Civil Emergency Service said in a statement that Morsi’s death raised to 83 the number of its members killed by Israeli fire since October 7.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on Morsi’s death.
Residents said Israeli forces had also blown up several houses in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City 5km from Jabalia. Medical teams said they were unable to answer desperate calls by some of the residents who had reported being trapped inside their houses, some wounded.
“We hear constant bombing in Zeitoun. We know they are blowing up houses there. We don’t sleep because of the sounds of explosions, the roaring of tanks sound close and the drones don’t stop circling,” said one resident of Gaza City, who lives about 1km away.
“The occupation is wiping out Zeitoun. We are afraid about the people trapped in there,” he said via a chat app, refusing to be named.
Israel and Hamas continued to blame one another for the failure of mediators, including Qatar, Egypt and the US, to broker a ceasefire. The US is preparing to present a new proposal, but the prospects of a breakthrough appear dim as gaps between the sides’ positions remain large.
Meanwhile on Sunday the UN, with local health authorities, extended by a day a campaign to vaccinate children in the southern Gaza Strip against polio before it moves on Monday to the north.
The campaign aims to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza after its first polio case in about 25 years. Limited pauses in the fighting have allowed the campaign to proceed.
UN officials said they were making progress, having reached more than half of the children needing the drops in the first two stages in the southern and central Gaza Strip. A second round of vaccination will be required four weeks after the first.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 40,900 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3-million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court, which Israel denies.
The Palestinian health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants in its casualty reports, but health officials say that most of the fatalities have been civilians.
Israel, which has lost 340 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Israeli strike kills senior rescue service official in Gaza
Mohammad Morsi and four of his family died in attack on his house, health officials say
Cairo — An Israeli air strike on a house in Jabalia on Sunday killed Mohammad Morsi, deputy director of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, and four of his family, health officials said.
The Civil Emergency Service said in a statement that Morsi’s death raised to 83 the number of its members killed by Israeli fire since October 7.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on Morsi’s death.
Residents said Israeli forces had also blown up several houses in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City 5km from Jabalia. Medical teams said they were unable to answer desperate calls by some of the residents who had reported being trapped inside their houses, some wounded.
“We hear constant bombing in Zeitoun. We know they are blowing up houses there. We don’t sleep because of the sounds of explosions, the roaring of tanks sound close and the drones don’t stop circling,” said one resident of Gaza City, who lives about 1km away.
“The occupation is wiping out Zeitoun. We are afraid about the people trapped in there,” he said via a chat app, refusing to be named.
Israel and Hamas continued to blame one another for the failure of mediators, including Qatar, Egypt and the US, to broker a ceasefire. The US is preparing to present a new proposal, but the prospects of a breakthrough appear dim as gaps between the sides’ positions remain large.
Meanwhile on Sunday the UN, with local health authorities, extended by a day a campaign to vaccinate children in the southern Gaza Strip against polio before it moves on Monday to the north.
The campaign aims to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza after its first polio case in about 25 years. Limited pauses in the fighting have allowed the campaign to proceed.
UN officials said they were making progress, having reached more than half of the children needing the drops in the first two stages in the southern and central Gaza Strip. A second round of vaccination will be required four weeks after the first.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 40,900 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3-million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court, which Israel denies.
The Palestinian health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants in its casualty reports, but health officials say that most of the fatalities have been civilians.
Israel, which has lost 340 soldiers in Gaza, says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Gunman killed after shooting three Israelis at Jordan border
Polio vaccination targets surpassed for Gaza children, WHO says
Biden says Netanyahu not doing enough to secure hostage deal
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.