Stray dogs have been eating the people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, CNN reported Wednesday. Fares Afana, the head of emergency services in the northern part of the war-torn enclave, told CNN that he and his colleagues had received the bodies of Palestinians killed in northern Gaza, with some showing signs of scavenging by animals.
“Stray dogs who are hungry are eating these bodies in the street… It makes it difficult for us to identify the bodies,” he said.
He said that the Israeli forces are “destroying everything that represents life or signs of life”, referring to the air and ground assaults in northern Gaza and the Jabalia area, where Israel claims that Hamas members have been regrouping.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israeli towns on October 7 last year, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians.
Israel’s assault has since then killed 42,409 people, the majority civilians, and injured 99,153 others in the Gaza Strip.
In its daily update on Wednesday, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli military strikes had killed 65 Palestinians across the enclave in the past 24 hours.
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Mr Afana said that on Monday Israeli troops had fired on hungry residents searching for food at a warehouse aid center run by the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).
“The situation is getting worse,” he said, adding that they “can’t do their jobs normally”.
“What is happening in northern Gaza is a real genocide,” he said.
UNRWA Warns Of ‘Real Risk’ Of Gaza Famine
The UNRWA warned Wednesday of the risk of famine in Gaza as Israel intensified its operations in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory.
At a press conference, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that “there is a real risk today… that we enter a situation where famine or acute malnutrition is unfortunately again a likelihood,” pointing to the upcoming winter and the weakened immune systems of Gaza’s population.
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Speaking on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, he said it had “become a kind of wasteland, which I would say is almost unliveable”.
Mr Lazzarini said that with appropriate action, a hunger crisis in Gaza “can be avoided” if convoys and food are allowed to enter.