Nearly 1000 Palestinian Medical Personnel Died During War In Gaza Strip

An injured boy is being treated by Palestinian medical personnel at Aqsa Hospital, Deir Al-Balalah, Gaza Strip on October 15, 2023. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency)

JAKARTA - More than 990 Palestinian medical personnel have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year, Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan said on Saturday (21/9).

In a statement, he said that more than 300 health workers had been arrested and hospitals were destroyed or unable to operate due to the Israeli military aggression.

Israeli bombings also damaged 130 ambulances so they could not be used.

On Saturday morning, five Health Ministry workers were killed in an Israeli attack on the ministry's storage facility in Rafah City, southern Gaza.

Abu Ramadan called the bombing of health facilities and medical personnel part of a "larger pattern of violence by Israel's occupation".

He urged the international community and health organizations to pressure Israel to "immediately stop aggression, open borders to medical supplies, and allow critical and injured patients to receive treatment".

Although the UN Security Council has issued a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has continued to attack Gaza since the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, carried out cross-border attacks in October last year.

Nearly 41,400 Palestinians, most of whom were women and children, have been killed and more than 95,700 others injured, according to Gaza's health authorities.

Israel's aggression have also expelled nearly the entire population in the Palestinian enclave from their homes amid a blockade that has caused shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.