While the Hamas Administration in Gaza stated on October 23 (2023) that the Israeli attacks claimed lives of at least 2,055 Palestinian children, pro-Israel protesters gathered at Parliament Square in London on the same day, demanding the release of 30 Israeli children held hostage by the Hamas Movement. The Israeli Army claimed that the 30 children were among the 222 Israelis captured by Hamas. This is how the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict portrays the image of endangered childhood in West Asia.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said with authority that the blast at Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital on October 17 was likely caused by “a missile, or part of one” fired from “within Gaza“! He told the House of Commons: “On the basis of the deep knowledge and analysis of our intelligence and weapons experts, the British Government judges that the explosion was likely caused by a missile, or part of one, that was launched from within Gaza towards Israel.” Immediately after the incident, Hamas blamed Tel Aviv for the attack because of which US President Joe Biden‘s meeting with Arab leaders in Amman was cancelled. In the fourth week of October, the Palestinian Movement released two more American hostages.

Israel has increased the intensity of attacks on the Gaza Strip since the night of October 22. On October 23, the Ministry of Health of Hamas-ruled Gaza stated that 436 people died in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours. The ministry mentioned in a statement that around 5,087 Palestinians, including 2,055 children, were killed in Israeli attacks from October 7 to October 23, while 15,273 people received serious injuries. Doctors at the Neonatal Care Unit of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital stressed on October 23 night that they were looking for fuel (to run generators) and medicines in an attempt to save 55 newborns.

Israel blockaded the Gaza Strip soon after Hamas launched an incursion into Israel, starting with a rocket barrage of over 5,000 missiles against Israeli targets on October 7. Tel Aviv also cut off the electricity supply to Gaza. On October 23, Doctor Nasser Bulbul at Al-Shifa Hospital told Reuters: “We call on everyone to send the necessary medical supplies for this critical department or else we face a huge catastrophe.” He said: “If the electricity is out, in these departments, where there are 55 babies, we will lose all those who need electricity within five minutes.” For his part, spokesperson of the Gaza Health Ministry Ashraf al-Qidra stated that there were 130 newborns in electric incubators across the Gaza Strip. According to him, generators at hospitals, especially at Al-Shifa Hospital (the largest of Gaza’s 13 public hospitals), were running out of fuel and “just at the bottom of tankers“. “We have switched the fuel to the most essential life-saving services, including the incubators, but we do not know how long this will last. We are appealing for the whole world to help with fuel. We have even asked our public and private petrol stations to donate whatever they can save of fuel to help save lives in hospitals,” added al-Qidra.

Tel Aviv confirmed that the Israeli fighter jets hit 320 targets in Gaza on October 22 night. Next night, the Israeli Army carried out another operation in Gaza in search of Hamas fighters. As a result, Gaza was practically devastated. The UN Palestine Refugee Agency reported that 29 of its staff were killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. Also, their stored fuel would last only three more days.

Meanwhile, a second convoy of 14 trucks, carrying relief materials, entered Gaza through the Rafah checkpoint on the Egypt-Gaza border. Earlier, five UN agencies claimed that Gaza was facing a grave humanitarian crisis. Then, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu announced that relief supplies would continue to flow into the Gaza Strip.

At the same time, the Israeli Defence Forces have increased the intensity of attacks on the Israel-Lebanon border, as Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shīʿite Islamist political party and militant group backed by Iran, declared a war against the Jewish nation. Reports suggest that the Israeli Air Force attacked two bases of Hezbollah in Lebanon on October 23… one near the Israeli city of Mattat and the other in Sheba’a Farms (a small strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights). The Israeli Air Force claimed that Hezbollah had a plan to launch anti-tank missiles and rockets at Israel from those two bases. The Lebanese outfit admitted that one of its members was killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, Iran has warned that the violence is gradually getting out of control. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, has reportedly said: “If the crimes against humanity in Gaza are not stopped, all options will be on the table and the region will be out of control at the expense of the aggressors themselves.” He stressed: “The US is currently fighting the proxy war against the people of Gaza. The region has turned into a barrel of gunpowder, and any error in calculations, committing genocide and forced displacement will lead to repercussions for the region as well as those in charge of this war.”

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das