Day: October 16, 2023

People move the body of a Palestinian, who was killed in Israeli strikes, from an ice cream truck in the Gaza Strip.

Stringer/Reuters

• Gazan authorities have started using ice cream trucks to store dead bodies, Reuters reported.
• Hospitals, morgues, and cemeteries are struggling to keep up with the death toll in the Gaza Strip.
• More than 2,600 people have died from Israeli air strikes, Palestinian authorities said.

Health officials in Gaza are storing bodies in ice cream trucks as morgues and cemeteries run out of space, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The Gaza Strip, a 140-square-mile area where around 2 million Palestinians live, has been bombarded by Israeli air strikes in the last week, killing what local officials said are some 2,600 people.

The air strikes were carried out in retaliation for an October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas, which Israel said killed more than 1,300 people.

As the Israeli air strikes continue, officials have started using freezer trucks as temporary morgues, per Reuters. These trucks are normally used to deliver goods to supermarkets, the outlet reported.

“The hospital morgue can only take 10 bodies, so we have brought in ice cream freezers from the ice cream factories in order to store the huge numbers of martyrs,” Dr. Yasser Ali, who works in the Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital, told the outlet. The hospital is in Deir al-Balah, a city around nine miles south of Gaza City.

Reuters reported that ice cream trucks are also being used to store bodies because it’s too risky to move the corpses to hospitals. Its senior correspondent, Nidal Al-Mughrabi, reported that Reuters was shown the bodies in the trucks.

But the freezers still aren’t enough, and hospitals and morgues are still over capacity, Ali told Reuters. As many as 30 bodies are being kept in tents, he told the outlet.

Doha-based Al Jazeera, which is owned by the Qatari state, also reported on Saturday that ice cream trucks and refrigerated food vehicles were being used to store bodies.

The Shehab News Agency, which according to Reporters without Borders is affiliated with Hamas, reported the same as well.

The Israeli Air Force said on Thursday that it had bombed the Gaza Strip more than 6,000 times, and would continue to “attack forcefully and relentlessly” in response to the October 7 terrorist attacks. 

The incursions by Hamas, whose fighters broke through the Israel-Gaza border and attacked civilian neighborhoods, were the worst attacks Israel had seen in decades. Hamas militants took an estimated 150 people hostage, including some US citizens, and brought them to Gaza, prompting Israel to prepare for an anticipated mass ground offensive.

Around 300,000 Israeli reservists have been mobilized from around the world, and Israeli tanks are gathered at the border of the Gaza Strip, which was put under a complete siege and left without food, water, and electricity for days.

The Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation order to northern Gaza late on Thursday evening, telling civilians they had 24 hours to leave the area. Israel later extended the deadline, but the United Nations has criticized its tight window, saying it would be “impossible” for the 1.1 million people in the area to flee in time.

Meanwhile, Hamas has instructed the people of northern Gaza not to leave, urging them to defy a “psychological war” waged by Israel.

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Three Australian government evacuation flights carrying 255 people have left the Israeli city of Tel Aviv bound for Dubai. 

The government in Canberra has reiterated its support for Israel and the right for it to defend itself following attacks by Hamas militants more than a week ago

Most of the passengers onboard two military planes and a commercial aircraft were Australian citizens and their family members who left Sunday for Dubai. 

Two flights that had been planned for Saturday were canceled because of fears of worsening violence in the region. 

Australia has upgraded its travel advice for the Middle East and is urging its citizens to defer non-essential travel to Lebanon. 

A similar warning about travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories was issued last week.

A massive Israeli military buildup is continuing near the coastal enclave of Gaza ahead of an expected ground assault against Hamas militants, who crossed the border with Israel more than a week ago to attack civilians and soldiers.

Officials have said that 1,600 Australian citizens are registered in Israel or the West Bank, and 19 in Gaza. 

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Monday that not all the evacuation flights from Tel Aviv were full.

“There were actually empty seats on the flights,” Marles said. “So, we would really encourage Australians who are in Israel now who want to leave to take the opinions that are being made available to them.”

Australian police say that 10,000 people turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne Sunday, while another 6,000 attended a gathering in Sydney.  There was a heavy police presence at both events, but the authorities say the rallies were mostly peaceful. 

Large rallies have also been held in Australia in the past week by Jewish groups and other supporters of Israel.

The Australian government has reiterated its support for Israel and its right to defend itself following what Deputy Prime Minister Marles said were the “appalling terrorist attacks” by Hamas fighters on Israeli civilians and troops.

Politically, Canberra is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state co‑exist within internationally recognized borders.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday he accepted his share of blame for the failure of a referendum question on Indigenous recognition that could weaken his authority.

More than 60% of Australians voted “No” in the landmark referendum on Saturday that asked whether to alter the constitution to recognise the country’s Indigenous peoples, and create an advisory body that would have advised parliament on matters concerning the community.

Albanese staked significant political capital on a “Yes” vote, pushing ahead despite the opposition Liberal party opposing it.

Only eight of 45 referenda have been successful in Australia’s history as a nation, none without bipartisan support.

He faced Liberal leader Peter Dutton during parliamentary question time on Monday for the first time since the referendum failure.

“We know that referendums are hard, that is why only eight of 45 have passed,” Albanese said. “I certainly accept responsibility for the decisions that I have taken.”

Dutton, who had backed a second referendum solely on recognising Indigenous people in the constitution, appeared to row back on the pledge on Monday, saying there would be no appetite for a second vote “for some time”.

Albanese still leads Dutton as the country’s preferred leader, and the governing Labor party is polling above the level at which it won power in the May 2022 election, regaining ground on the eve of the referendum. Political analysts have said the unpopularity of the referendum has not yet shown a significant adverse impact for Labor in polls.

The referendum outcome is seen as a major setback for reconciliation efforts with the country’s Indigenous community and risks damaging Australia’s image in the world regarding how it treats people in that community.

“The damage from Saturday’s vote will be extreme,” an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald said on Monday. “This will set back the cause of reconciliation, despite what politicians are saying.”

The country’s main business newspaper, the Australian Financial Review, called the result “heartbreaking” for the country’s Indigenous community, who make up about 3.8% of the population and have suffered from centuries of neglect and discrimination since colonisation by Great Britain in 1788.

Remote areas dominated by Indigenous communities voted strongly in favour of the referendum question, Albanese said, in contrast to the rest of the country.

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