MORE than 800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of Ramadan, showing the stark human cost of the failed attempts by the US and others to secure a ceasefire before the holy month.
Between the mornings of March 11 and March 20, 811 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to data from the enclave’s health authorities.
Another 1,336 people were injured, reported the Hamas-run Health Ministry, whose daily casualty updates are considered reliable by the UN and other humanitarian agencies.
Also, Dozens of mourners gathered in the village of Aqraba, near the West Bank city of Nablus, on Wednesday for the funeral of Fakher Basem Bani Jaber.
The 40-year-old Palestinian man was shot in the back a day earlier by an Israeli settler near the village of Yanun, southeast of Nablus, the Wafa news agency reported.
Residents of the town said that several people responded to an attack by the Israeli settlers, leading to an outbreak of gunfire during which Bani Jaber sustained the injuries that led to his death.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has submitted written assurances required by the State Department that weapons it received from the US are not being used to violate international law in Gaza, the Reuters news agency reports, citing an unnamed US official.
Israel had until March 24 to submit its written assurances, and the State Department will now assess by early May whether its claims are credible and report its findings to Congress.
President Joe Biden issued a national security memorandum last month reminding countries receiving US-supplied weapons to abide by international law. It also, for the first time, required the US government to submit an annual report to Congress on whether countries are meeting those requirements.
