Residents of Santa Cruz city centre woke up this Monday morning to a surprising sight: a different traffic sign. One of the warnings indicating a school zone, specifically outside the Alcalde Bernabé Rodríguez Compulsory Education Institute, had been transformed into an image in support of Palestine.
The characteristic triangular sign with two children walking inside, labeled with the word school, had the word Palestine added to it along with what appears to be two bombs falling over the drawing. This is another attempt to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza following the constant bombings.
The authorship of this action is currently unknown, and neither the Institute nor the City Council take responsibility for it. This smaller-scale action adds to other movements, such as the camp at the University of La Laguna and the demonstrations in support of the State that Spain has recently recognised.
Gaza Situation
The military offensive unleashed by the Israeli Army against the Gaza Strip after the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian factions has already resulted in more than 37,100 deaths, as denounced by the authorities of the enclave controlled by the Islamist group.
The Gaza Ministry of Health stated in a release that to date, there have been confirmed 37,124 “martyrs” and 84,712 wounded, including 40 fatalities and 218 injured in five “massacres” committed by the Israeli Army in the last 24 hours.
Furthermore, there are an undetermined number of victims “under rubble and on roads”, whose bodies have not been recovered. Gazan authorities have estimated nearly 10,000 missing persons, prompting them to urge relatives of the deceased and missing to provide their details by registering through a link to complete the official data.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) stated on Monday that the level of destruction in the Gaza Strip due to Israel’s military offensive is “indescribable” and noted that “clearing the rubble will take years”.
