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Another 200,000 people flee northern Gaza as fighting continues Another 200,000 people flee northern Gaza as fighting continues
(about 1 hour later)
Only one hospital in north of territory accepting patients as IDF accuses Hamas of using medical facilities as ‘instrument of war’Only one hospital in north of territory accepting patients as IDF accuses Hamas of using medical facilities as ‘instrument of war’
Another 200,000 people have fled northern Gaza in the past 10 days, the UN has said, as fierce fighting between Hamas militants and the Israeli army encroaches on hospitals where patients are dying due to energy shortages and dwindling supplies.Another 200,000 people have fled northern Gaza in the past 10 days, the UN has said, as fierce fighting between Hamas militants and the Israeli army encroaches on hospitals where patients are dying due to energy shortages and dwindling supplies.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said on Tuesday that only one hospital in the northern half of the blockaded Gaza Strip – al-Awda – still had electricity and was able to receive patients, with other medical facilities in sprawling Gaza City now mostly functioning as shelters for those fleeing the violence.The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said on Tuesday that only one hospital in the northern half of the blockaded Gaza Strip – al-Awda – still had electricity and was able to receive patients, with other medical facilities in sprawling Gaza City now mostly functioning as shelters for those fleeing the violence.
At least 32 patients, including three premature babies, died over the weekend, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday, with another 36 babies and other patients at al-Shifa, the area’s largest hospital, at risk. Life-saving equipment, such as incubators, cannot function without fuel to run generators. At least 32 patients, including three premature babies, died over the weekend, the health ministry in Gaza said on Monday, with another 36 babies and other patients at al-Shifa, the area’s largest hospital, at risk. Life-saving equipment, such as incubators, cannot function without fuel to run generators. And with no means of keeping dozens of corpses from decomposing, mass graves were being dug on the hospital grounds, said a health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qidra.
Those who have left in the last week join the estimated 1.5 million people – three-quarters of the blockaded territory’s population – who have already fled their homes via Israeli military “safe routes” in the six-week-old war that has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis, according to officials. Those who have left in the last week join the estimated 1.5 million people – three-quarters of the blockaded territory’s population – who have already fled their homes via Israeli military “safe routes” in the six-week-old war that has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and 1,200 people in Israel, according to officials.
Ocha said, however, that “hundreds of thousands of people, who are either unwilling or unable to move to the south remain in the north, amid intensified hostilities. They are struggling to secure the minimum amount of water and food for survival.” An estimated 600-650 patients, 200-500 staff, and 1,500 displaced people are still in al-Shifa hospital. Ocha said, however, that “hundreds of thousands of people, who are either unwilling or unable to move to the south remain in the north, amid intensified hostilities. They are struggling to secure the minimum amount of water and food for survival.”
Hebrew-language media reported on Tuesday that both Israeli and Palestinian officials were trying to make arrangements for unconscious patients and those requiring dialysis and cancer treatment to be evacuated from al-Shifa to appropriate facilities in the southern half of the strip, but the reports were not immediately confirmed by medics on the ground. The Israeli military said it started an effort to transfer incubators to the hospital but it was not clear if they had been delivered or how they would be powered. Hebrew-language media reported on Tuesday that both Israeli and Palestinian officials were trying to make arrangements for unconscious patients and those requiring dialysis and cancer treatment to be evacuated from al-Shifa to appropriate facilities in the southern half of the strip, but the reports were not immediately confirmed by medics on the ground. The Israeli military said it started an effort to send incubators to the hospital but it was not clear how they would be transferred.
Civilians in the area said heavy gunfire could still be heard around the hospital compound. Civilians in the area said heavy gunfire could still be heard around the hospital compound. Staff at al-Shifa have said snipers were shooting at people outside, making it dangerous to move around the complex.
World Health Organization spokesperson Margaret Harris said on Tuesday that the world needed to focus on “saving lives, not taking lives”.
“Somehow the understanding that a hospital must be a safe haven, a place where people come to be cured, to be treated when they are in trouble, when they are in need, it has been forgotten,” Harris said. “There seems to be a trend to want to turn them into places of death, despair and danger, which should never happen.”
The US president, Joe Biden, said on Monday he hoped the Israeli military would proceed with a “less intrusive” operation at al-Shifa, adding that Palestinian civilians must be protected.The US president, Joe Biden, said on Monday he hoped the Israeli military would proceed with a “less intrusive” operation at al-Shifa, adding that Palestinian civilians must be protected.
Israel has accused Hamas of building command centres underneath medical infrastructure, accusations denied by both Hamas and medical staff. Israel says that al-Shifa, where fighting has reached the gates and trapped those inside, sits above the “nerve centre” of the Palestinian militant group’s operations. Israel has not provided conclusive evidence, but the group often fires rockets from densely crowded residential areas, and maintains a vast tunnel network. Israel says that al-Shifa, where fighting has reached the gates and trapped those inside, sits above the “nerve centre” of the Palestinian militant group’s operations. Israel has not provided conclusive evidence, but the group often fires rockets from densely crowded residential areas, and maintains a vast tunnel network.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday released footage they said was from the Rantisi children’s hospital, which IDF troops entered over the weekend. “Hamas uses hospitals as an instrument of war,” said R Adm Daniel Hagari, the army’s chief spokesperson, standing in a room of the hospital in which vests, grenades and RPGs were displayed on the floor. The IDF also alleged that Israeli hostages had been held at Rantisi before being moved, citing the presence of some of their belongings. UN officials have warned that Israel’s claims of militant activity in hospitals, whether true or false, does absolve its military from obligations to spare civilian life.
The fifth war in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, already the bloodiest chapter in the 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was sparked by an unprecedented aerial, ground and naval assault by Hamas on Israeli communities and military bases on the strip’s periphery. The fifth war in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, already the bloodiest chapter in the 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was sparked by an unprecedented assault by Hamas on Israeli communities and military bases on the strip’s periphery.
Militants massacred hundreds of civilians and took 240 hostages back to Gaza on 7 October, leading Israel to declare war: three weeks of airstrikes, one of the most intense such campaigns anywhere in the world this century, were followed by Israel’s first ground invasion of Gaza since 2014. Militants massacred hundreds of civilians and took 240 hostages back to Gaza on 7 October, leading Israel to declare war: three weeks of airstrikes, one of the most intense such campaigns anywhere in the world this century, were followed by a ground invasion.
Israeli troops and tanks have slowly but steadily since cut off Gaza City from the rest of the strip as talks mediated by Qatar and the US on releasing hostages and brokering a humanitarian pause or ceasefire have stalled. The IDF has ordered Palestinian civilians to move south of the Gaza river to “safe zones” since the early days of the war, but there has also been intense bombing in the southern half of the strip.Israeli troops and tanks have slowly but steadily since cut off Gaza City from the rest of the strip as talks mediated by Qatar and the US on releasing hostages and brokering a humanitarian pause or ceasefire have stalled. The IDF has ordered Palestinian civilians to move south of the Gaza river to “safe zones” since the early days of the war, but there has also been intense bombing in the southern half of the strip.
A French hospital ship is expected to arrive in the region in the next few days, and the UAE is setting up a field hospital in Gaza’s south, but the measures are unlikely to alleviate the humanitarian crisis engulfing the 2.3 million-strong population.A French hospital ship is expected to arrive in the region in the next few days, and the UAE is setting up a field hospital in Gaza’s south, but the measures are unlikely to alleviate the humanitarian crisis engulfing the 2.3 million-strong population.
The coastal territory, already impoverished by the 16-year-old Israeli-Egyptian siege imposed after Hamas took over, has been left in ruins by the Israeli bombing campaign: about 45% of Gaza’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, along with 279 educational facilities, according to UN figures released on Monday.The coastal territory, already impoverished by the 16-year-old Israeli-Egyptian siege imposed after Hamas took over, has been left in ruins by the Israeli bombing campaign: about 45% of Gaza’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, along with 279 educational facilities, according to UN figures released on Monday.
Clean water, food and medical supplies are in scarce supply. A fraction of the aid that used to reach Gaza on a daily basis has entered from Egypt – a total of 861 trucks since 21 October, compared with 500 a day carrying goods and food before the war broke out. Rubbish is piling up in the streets, elevating the risk of further deaths and waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery. Clean water, food and medical supplies are in scarce supply. A tiny fraction of the aid that used to reach Gaza on a daily basis has entered from Egypt. Rubbish is piling up in the streets, elevating the risk of further deaths and waterborne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said on Tuesday that he believed that the international community would press Israel to wind down its operations in Gaza in the next two to three weeks. “From a political standpoint, we are starting to see that pressure on Israel has begun. That pressure isn’t very high, but it is in an upward trend … we will continue in any event according to plan,” he told reporters.Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said on Tuesday that he believed that the international community would press Israel to wind down its operations in Gaza in the next two to three weeks. “From a political standpoint, we are starting to see that pressure on Israel has begun. That pressure isn’t very high, but it is in an upward trend … we will continue in any event according to plan,” he told reporters.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas as a military and governing power in Gaza, but it remains unclear what the country plans to do with the territory after the fighting subsides.Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas as a military and governing power in Gaza, but it remains unclear what the country plans to do with the territory after the fighting subsides.
Two IDF soldiers were injured on Monday by an anti-tank guided missile fired from southern Lebanon amid soaring tensions on Israel’s northern border with the powerful Iran-backed militia Hezbollah that has killed about 70 Lebanese militants and 16 civilians, as well as seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians. A senior far-right member of the Israeli government said on Tuesday that Palestinians should leave Gaza for other countries. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he supported a call by two members of the Israeli parliament who wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial that western countries should accept Gazan families who expressed a desire to relocate.
Fighting also continues to escalate in the occupied West Bank, where 182 Palestinians have been killed, mostly in clashes with the IDF and Israeli settlers living in the Palestinian territory. Palestinians have accused Israel of seeking a new “Nakba”, or catastrophe, the mass displacement of 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes in wars that surrounded the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Very few who left were allowed back to their homes.
An unverified video published online showed what appeared to be IDF soldiers in front of bombed-out buildings, with one saying they were “conquering, expelling and settling”.On Tuesday, rocket fire by Palestinian militants in Gaza hit the areas around the strip, including the city of Ashkelon, where medics said two Israelis were lightly wounded.
In the north, anti-tank missiles and mortars were fired from Lebanon at Israeli military positions and forces returned fire, the IDF said. Israel’s fighting with the powerful Iran-backed militia Hezbollah has killed about 70 Lebanese militants and 16 civilians, as well as seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
Fighting also continues to escalate in the occupied West Bank, where 182 Palestinians have been killed, mostly in clashes with the IDF and Israeli settlers living in the Palestinian territory. Israeli forces killed at least eight Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian medics and local media said.