Israel’s war against Hamas enters fifth month, has destroyed Gaza hospitals

The war between Israel and Hamas, now in its fifth month, has devastated Gaza’s hospitals, with less than half of them only partially functioning, and dozens of people killed and wounded in bombings every day.

Israel accuses the militants of using hospitals and other civilian buildings as cover. Palestinians began evacuating the main hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, according to a video shared by medical staff on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said it had opened a safe route to allow civilians to leave the hospital, while medical staff and patients could remain inside.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 others.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the Palestinian death toll from the war in Gaza has exceeded 28,000. A quarter of Gaza’s residents are hungry.

The United States, which provides significant military and diplomatic support to Israel, has been working with Qatar and Egypt to try to broker a ceasefire and repatriate the remaining 130 hostages held by Hamas, about a quarter of whom are believed to have been kidnapped. died.

Negotiators held talks in Cairo on Tuesday, attended by CIA Director William Burns and David Bania, the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, but there were no signs of a breakthrough.

As an Israeli airstrike during a hostage rescue destroyed an entire Palestinian family in a Gaza border town, South Africa met with Jordan’s King Abdullah as he made an emergency request to the United Nations Supreme Court over Israel’s search for the release of the Palestinian-American Rafah family detained by Israel. Gaza deal is on the agenda The Israeli military said it had rescued two hostages imprisoned in the Gaza Strip.

Lebanese security officials and local media said four people were killed in the Lebanese village of Suaneh, including a Syrian woman and her two Lebanese children, and at least nine others were injured.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with regulations. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported that another airstrike on the village of Adchit killed one person and wounded nine others. It was unclear whether the dead were civilians or Hezbollah fighters.

Earlier on Wednesday, a projectile hit a house in the northern Israeli town of Safed, injuring at least eight people. Israeli media reported that a woman was killed in that attack, but the military did not immediately confirm the report. Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for the Safed attack.

Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which supports Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers, have exchanged fire on the border almost every day since the war with Hamas broke out on October 7.

The letter, signed by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez, said that if the committee considers that Israel has breached the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the The agreement sets respect for human rights and democratic principles as fundamental elements of the EU. relations, it should propose appropriate measures to the European Council for consideration.

The letter stressed condemnation of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s right to defend itself, but also highlighted the rising death toll and destruction in Gaza.

It says Israel must respect international human rights.

The two leaders said they shared United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ concern about the shocking human suffering, material destruction and collective trauma of civilians and the risks they face, as he believes that no place in Gaza is safe.

The Israeli military said it fired about 10 missiles into northern Israel on Wednesday, targeting a nearby military base.

One of the rockets hit a house in Safed, causing casualties, and the other two rockets were intercepted.

There was no immediate comment from Lebanese Hezbollah or the Palestinian armed group, which has also fired rockets into northern Israel.

Last month, Hezbollah said it had launched a drone attack on the army’s northern headquarters.

The Israeli military admitted at the time that one of its bases had been attacked, but said there were no casualties or property damage.

Increasing cross-border attacks have led to fears that the ongoing war in Gaza could spark a wider conflict.

Hezbollah says keeping Israel’s northern front active will help reduce pressure on Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.

Since October 7, nearly 200 Hezbollah militants and more than 20 civilians have been killed on the Lebanese side.

In Israel, 19 people were killed by Lebanese rocket attacks, including 10 civilians.

More than 180 Israelis were injured, including a woman and her son who were seriously injured in a rocket attack in the northern city of Shmona on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes on both sides of the border.

In the video, a man named Sinwar is seen from behind, with his wife and three children walking in front of him.

He was wearing sandals and carrying a bag.

His daughter held a doll in her hands as the family was led through the tunnel by a brother the army claimed was Sinwar’s.

The face of the man, identified as Sinwar, was not visible and the claims could not be independently confirmed.

The military also released video of a tunnel compound where it claimed Sinwar had recently been hiding with his family.

The compound has a bathroom and kitchen stocked with food, including bags marked with the logo of the United Nations agency that provides the most aid to the people of Gaza.

Israel has long accused UNRWA of tolerating or collaborating with Hamas, a charge the agency denies.

Another room contained a safe with plastic storage bags filled with shekels and dollars.

The military provided no information to support its assertion that Sinwar had spent time in the tunnel compound.

Sinwar is the top leader of Hamas in Palestine. Israeli officials vowed to kill him and crack down on the militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007.

Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said late Tuesday that the army was combing through intelligence documents seized during the tunnel operation.

He said the army had multiple videos of Sinwar.

Martin Griffiths said on Tuesday that more than 100,000 of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled to Rafah seeking safety from Israeli attacks, facing death with little food, little access to medical care and nowhere to go. Sleep, there is nowhere safe to go.

He said Gaza residents were victims of an Israeli attack that was unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope.

Griffiths reiterated the United Nations’ demand that Israel end the war launched after Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the army to make plans to evacuate Rafah in order to pursue Hamas militants in the city.

Hamas attacks in Israel have killed about 1,200 people and resulted in the taking of about 250 hostages.

He said more than 28,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed across Gaza in the Israeli offensive, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Griffiths said in a statement that he had been warning for weeks that the United Nations’ humanitarian response was fragmented and was now sounding the alarm again. He said military action in Rafah could lead to massacres in Gaza.

They could also bring already fragile humanitarian operations to the brink of death.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)