The Arab Organization for Human Rights expresses its disappointment in the failure of the United Nations Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities in stopping the deliberate and systematic killing of Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories. This disappointment is particularly profound given the severe hardships faced by the people of Gaza due to the blockade, which includes the denial of humanitarian aid and severe limitations on the flow of assistance, meeting only a fraction of the needs as outlined by UN agencies operating in the region.
The organization also expresses its disappointment in the refusal of some Western countries to participate in the Cairo summit for peace held yesterday, and their failure to condemn the killing of Palestinian civilians and support the entry of necessary humanitarian aid for the people.
As of the evening of October 21, 2023 (the fifteenth day), at least 95% of the casualties have been civilians. In Gaza alone, 4,500 martyrs have fallen, including 1,770 children and 1,200 women. This includes 17 UN staff members, 31 doctors and medical teams, and 14 journalists.
Approximately 14,500 people have been wounded, including around 6,000 children and 3,000 elderly women.
In the West Bank and Jerusalem, 89 martyrs have fallen, including 5 killed by settlers, 17 children, and around 1,500 wounded.
According to the Palestinian Commission for Human Rights (an internationally accredited national institution), approximately 1,200 bodies remain under the rubble, with inadequate equipment and rescue teams available to remove the rubble and retrieve the bodies. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, body bags ran out on October 13, and around 1,500 Palestinian martyrs were buried in mass graves, especially those who could not be identified, resulting in the complete destruction of their families, and those who remained wounded are still in hospitals.
As of October 16, 57 large families have been wiped out from the civil registry after their homes were bombed, including grandparents, children, and grandchildren. By October 21, 600 large families had lost at least half of their members, including 98 families who lost 10 or more members, 95 families who lost between 6 to 9 members, and 357 families who lost between 2 to 5 members. Thousands of children have lost both parents or at least one of them.
The total number of displaced people under bombardment is estimated to be around 1.4 million, including 900,000 from the northern areas of Gaza who have moved to southern Gaza due to Israeli terrorism, with approximately 60% of them losing their homes due to bombardment. About 160,000 of the displaced are in northern Gaza, among the 500,000 who preferred not to move south due to the absence of any housing facilities or means to meet their living needs, including the residents of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, who collectively refused to leave. Additionally, around 350,000 residents of the central and southern governorates, including Khan Yunis and Rafah, have been displaced despite being in areas where the Israeli occupation instructed the northern residents to relocate.
According to the United Nations, as of October 21, 42% of Gaza’s buildings have been bombed by the Israeli occupation, including more than 15,000 residential units, of which 10,600 are no longer habitable. This destruction has also affected essential infrastructure, service facilities, and public utilities.
Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed in areas like Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, as well as the Al-Rimal and Tel Al-Hawa neighborhoods in central Gaza, and complete residential quarters in the Shuja’iyya and Al-Daraj neighborhoods, which have been entirely leveled.
The Israeli aggression targeted UN facilities, with UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) installations being shelled after they became shelters for 500,000 displaced individuals. The Israeli authorities threatened to bomb five UNRWA schools in Gaza City and the north unless the residents who sought refuge there were evacuated.