Gaza faces massive casualties during UK parliament recess period, warns Oxfam

Nearly 7,000 Palestinians in Gaza are projected to be killed or wounded if Israel’s military offensive continues unabated during the UK parliament’s summer recess, according to a new analysis by Oxfam released on Tuesday, Anadolu has reported. The humanitarian NGO estimates that over 1,800 people, including more than 600 children, will be killed, and over 5,000 will be wounded within the 33-day recess period.

Oxfam’s calculations, based on UN cumulative impact reports from 8 May to 22 July, indicate that 1,831 individuals in Gaza will be killed and 5,016 injured due to ongoing Israeli military action. The analysis coincides with criticisms of the UK government’s continued arms sales to Israel, which are feared to contribute to violations of international law in Gaza. These sales include components for F-35 fighter jets, which are employed regularly in air strikes against the Palestinians.

Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) data for the same period reports that Israeli air strikes account for over 45 per cent of recent fatalities in Gaza. Israel’s bombing campaign has been described as one of the deadliest and most destructive in modern history, involving the use of powerful Mark 84 2,000-pound bombs, which have a lethal fragmentation radius of up to 1,100 feet (335.28 metres).

The Chief Executive of Oxfam GB, Halima Begum, condemned the ongoing arms sales: “Israeli fighter jets, like the F-35, are relentlessly dropping lethal bombs that kill and maim civilians indiscriminately across Gaza every single day. The humanitarian impact has been horrific. By selling F-35 components to Israel, the UK government is effectively facilitating many of the Israeli air strikes and the decimation of Gaza.”

Begum emphasised the legal and moral obligations of the UK and said that the government is “fully aware” of the risk that arms exported from the UK are likely being used to commit war crimes in Gaza. “It is critical that the UK government suspend both existing and new licences for all arms sales immediately, whether direct to Israel or via third parties. Without such concrete action, glaring loopholes for continued arms transfers will remain. Minor restrictions will make little meaningful difference in this appalling crisis.”

At least 39,400 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive started last October, mostly women and children, and nearly 91,000 have been wounded. An estimated 10,000 Palestinians are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israeli bombs. Over nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

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