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A heart-wrenching scene from a funeral in Gaza shows a Palestinian child clinging to his father’s shoe. His father was killed by the ongoing Israeli bombardment of civilian areas in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli genocide on Gaza continues after 10 months with the number of martyrs topping the 39,000-mark and those injured standing at over 91,000.
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At least 10,000 Israeli soldiers have either been killed and/or injured the Yedioth Ahronoth pointed out Sunday.
The figure is trending on the social media with many news websites quoting the number stating that the total deaths and injured took an upward swing since 7 October, 2023 when Israel waged a war on Gaza.
The Israeli daily newspaper said some 1,000 soldiers are transferred every month to the Defense Ministry’s rehabilitation department due to injuries sustained in the Gaza war as reported by Anadolu.
“The army is suffering from a shortage of at least 10,000 soldiers killed or wounded during the long months of fighting in the Gaza Strip,” the daily said.
The newspaper explained that the Israeli Knesset began its summer vacation without legislating a law to extend compulsory military service, leaving Israeli soldiers who have been fighting in Gaza for 10 months in a state of shock and confusion.
Yedioth Ahronoth stated that this has caused “significant frustration among regular soldiers” who “are increasingly angry, especially those due for discharge next month after nearly 10 months of continuous combat.”
The daily quoted the father of a Nahal Brigade fighter in Rafah, Gaza Strip, saying: “Never before in Israeli history have soldiers fought in enemy territory under such harsh conditions for 10 months straight. Our children are deeply committed but feel ashamed to report the situation.”
CrossFireArabia
Why must the killings continue in Gaza?
More than 39,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,300 injured, according to local health authorities.
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At least 17 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza, Saturday.
The Government Media Office in Gaza said many others were injured in the attack on the Al Hamama School in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City.
Sources on the ground reported at least three bombs were dropped on the school whilst rescuers and volunteers inside the facility were trying to help people escape the rubble as it was destroyed completely.
Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was reporting on the Israeli attack on the school.
“While we were documenting the massacre inside this school, the displaced people received calls from the Israeli military ordering them to evacuate the building immediately, because it was going to be targeted again,” he said.
“Bodies are everywhere and the medics are retrieving them and body parts everywhere … it’s a big massacre,” according to the Quds News Network.
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An Irish man is driving the length of Ireland along the 2,800km Wild Atlantic Way in a slow-moving open-top vintage tractor to raise funds for the people of Gaza.
Pat Murphy, a teacher and father of four from Corofin, Galway, will brave the elements in his 1962 David Brown 850, which can only reach a maximum speed of 24kph.
The drive from Malin Head in Donegal to Mizen Head in Cork should only take eight hours in a modern vehicle on a more direct route, but Pat expects his tractor will do it in about two weeks taking the coastal Wild Atlantic Way.
“The tractor can probably do a maximum speed of 24kph so it will be a long journey, but for a very worthy cause,” said Pat, who teaches woodwork at Wesley College Dublin and lives in Sallins, Kildare with his family.
“It is a 62 year old David Brown that has been fully restored. It has no power steering or cabin, just fresh air. If it rains, I’ll be just going through it.
“There is no suspension either and not a lot of comfort so I will have an extra cushion on the seat, which will make a huge difference.
“I will also be wearing a lot of factor 50 and a sombrero hat to protect me from the sun and it can actually get very cool in an open top tractor so I have a heavy coat with me too.”
He began his trek, Thursday 1 August, at 2pm at Malin Head and was accompanied by his friend Tony Harrison from Ballina in Mayo who will be driving a camper van where he will sleep each night.
All proceeds will go to the humanitarian aid organisation Concern Worldwide and its Gaza appeal. Pat chose Concern because of his past involvement with the charity as a volunteer in Rwanda in 1995 and 1996 after the brutal genocide that occurred there.
“I really value the work that Concern does, especially after working for them in refugee camps after the Rwanda genocide,” he said.
“The people of Gaza really need our help today. Anybody who has been the pictures on television knows that the people there need our support.”
Another friend, Brendan Joyce, transported Pat’s tractor from Corofin, where he grew up, to Malin Head and will collect it when they reach Ireland’s most south-westerly point at Mizen Head.
Pat hopes to raise at least €5,000 on his GoFundMe page called ‘Malin to Mizen – Charity Tractor Run for Concern’ and has already raised over €3,000.
Pat said they plan to drive for eight hours each day and to take 15 minute breaks every two hours. He said they are looking forward to driving through the many towns and villages that dot the Wild Atlantic Way.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/malin-to-mizen-charity-tractor-run-for-concern
“We will have signs up on the vehicles to show people how they can support us on our GoFundMe page and I will be posting my progress of the journey each day on my Facebook and Instagram pages,” he said.
To support Pat Murphy’s tractor fundraising trek for Gaza, go to his GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/f7046b8d and his Instagram page is called Murphsmeander_malintomizen.
