Israeli forces have killed more than 184 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the past three days, according to multiple media reports, with women and children making up majority of the victims.
News about the indiscriminate massacre of Palestinians was coming barely a day after US President Joe Biden proposed an $8bn arms sale to Israel, just two weeks before leaving office, ignoring widespread criticism over the mounting death toll in Gaza
The deal according to Reuters would, however, need approval from House of Representatives and Senate committees and includes munitions for fighter jets and attack helicopters as well as artillery shells.
The package also includes small-diameter bombs and warheads, according to the sources.
One source familiar with the package said Biden had been clear that Israel had a right to defend its citizens “consistent with international laws and international humanitarian laws” and that the U.S. would continue to provide the capabilities necessary for Israel’s defense.
Some of the munitions deliveries could be furnished through current U.S. stock, while the majority would take up to several years to deliver, the source said.
The massacre
The Occupation forces killed 184 Palestinians and injured dozens of others over the past three days, the Gaza Media Office said Saturday.
“In a dangerous and unethical escalation as usual, the Israeli occupation army carried out more than 94 strikes, bombardments, and crimes over the past 72 hours, targeting unarmed civilians and residential areas across Gaza governorates, particularly in Gaza City, in a brutal and deliberate manner,” the office said in a statement.
“The attacks killed more than 184 Palestinians, including dozens whose bodies have not been retrieved due to the destruction of infrastructure and the inability to reach them under the rubble,” the office added.
The Israeli attacks have been compounded by the army’s prevention of ambulances, civil defense, medical teams, and emergency relief crews from accessing these bodies and the injured, it highlighted.
“These crimes constitute blatant violations of all international laws and norms and fall under the category of war crimes and genocide targeting innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip,” the office further said.
It said that the “(Israeli) occupation is employing a scorched-earth policy, obliterating entire residential blocks with their inhabitants, leading to the destruction of dozens of homes and the deaths and injuries of large numbers of people, including women and children.”
The government media office also urged the UN to “send independent international investigation teams to document these heinous crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, the Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed over 45,650 victims, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
