Hundreds dead and injured in Gaza after Israeli strikes

Doctors describe armageddon’ as Netanyahu shatters ceasefire vowing to act with increasing military strength’

- BEL TREW

Doctors in Gaza described scenes of “armageddon” as they struggled to tend to hundreds of dead and wounded, including children with severed limbs, as Israel launched some of its deadliest-ever strikes, shattering the relative calm of a ceasefire.

The ferocious bombardment came after Israel had imposed a two-week blockade on aid, supplies, and electricity, crippling the emergency responses. It pounded swathes of the strip early yesterday morning, bringing an already struggling healthcare system to its knees.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of Hamas’s rejection of a new ceasefire proposal. He vowed that Israel would “from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength”. Palestinian health officials said that in just a few hours, more than 400 people had been killed, the vast majority women and children.

Doctors told The Independent they could not cope with the injured and dying, as a total blockade on supplies meant they lacked basic necessities, including diesel for generators and essential surgical items like gloves, swabs, and syringes. Gaza Health Ministry officials said that only seven of the territory's hospitals were providing services.

Dr Muhammad Abuafash, director of Palestinian Medical Relief, who rushed to treat those at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, said the few medics available struggled to decide who to treat first, as patients and bloodied bodies intermingled on the floor.

“The vast majority of the wounded are children. We’re talking about large numbers of children with severed limbs,” he said in desperation, adding that emergency workers were still pulling the wounded and the dead out from under the rubble.