Israeli forces bombed southern Gaza on Tuesday after tanks advanced on the gates of the area’s largest hospital in the north where health officials said dozens of patients, including infants, had died from power shortages and heavy fighting.
At least 13 people were killed when Israeli forces targeted their homes in the southern town of Khan Younis, Gaza health ministry officials said.
The army has also stationed tanks outside Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza City’s main medical center, which Israel says is located above a tunnel housing the headquarters of Hamas fighters who use patients as shields.
An Israeli flag is seen on top of a destroyed building next to a mosque in northern Gaza on November 13, 2023. Getty Images
Hamas denies Israel’s claims.
The Israeli army said it was coordinating the transfer of incubators to Gaza, in a possible move to allow the transfer of newborns from hospitals.
Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra, who was inside Al Shifa hospital, said on Monday 32 patients had died in the previous three days, including three newborns.
This photo shows IDF soldiers opening a terrorist tunnel shaft in a mosque. IDF
At least 650 patients remain inside, he added.
In his first comments since the reported death of a patient at Al Shifa, US President Joe Biden said the hospital must be protected.
“My hope and expectation is that there will be a less disruptive action than the hospital and that we continue to be in contact with Israel,” Biden told reporters on Monday.
Men examine the bodies of people killed in a bombing that hit a school that left Palestinians homeless, as they lie on the ground in the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
“There is also an effort to get this pause to deal with the release of prisoners and that is being negotiated, as well, with Qatar … being engaged,” he added. “So I remain somewhat hopeful but the hospital must be protected.”
On Monday, the Israeli military released a video and photos of what it said were weapons the group kept in the basement of Rantissi hospital, a children’s hospital specializing in cancer treatment.
In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hamas said the video showed “fabricated scenes that mislead public opinion”, adding that it was a “failed attempt” by Israel to justify targeting hospitals.
Palestinians injured in Israeli raids arrive at Nasser Medical Hospital on November 14, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images
BREAKING FOR Ceasefire?
Israel launched its war against Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group rampaged on October 7 into southern Israel.
About 1,200 people died in the attack and 240 were dragged to Gaza as hostages according to Israeli calculations.
The armed wing of Hamas said it was ready to release up to 70 women and children held in Gaza in exchange for a five-day ceasefire in the war.
A policeman, medic and other men prepare to pray in front of some of the bodies of victims killed in Israeli bombing before their burial, outside the morgue at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
Gaza medical authorities say more than 11,000 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli bombing, about 40% of them children.
About two-thirds of the population of the densely populated Mediterranean strip has been displaced by Israel’s military campaign, in which it has ordered the northern half of Gaza to be evacuated.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, posted an audio recording on Telegram saying the group was ready to release as many as 70 women and children hostages in return for a five-day ceasefire, an offer Israel was unlikely to accept.
People grieve as they stand behind an iron fence near the bodies of victims killed in Israeli bombings before their burial, outside the morgue at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 14, 2023. AFP via Getty Images
“We told the (Qatari) mediators that in a five-day ceasefire, we could release 50 of them and the number could reach 70 because of the difficulty that the prisoners are held by different factions,” al-Qassam Brigade spokesman Abu Ubaida said, saying Israel had requested 100 to be released.
Israel, which effectively blockades Gaza, has rejected the ceasefire, arguing that Hamas will only use it to regroup, but has allowed a short humanitarian “pause” to allow food and other supplies to flow in and foreigners to flee.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Washington “would like to see a longer pause – days, not hours – in the context of the hostage release.”
A patient receives treatment at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023, amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. AFP via Getty Images
A Washington Post opinion writer on Tuesday quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying Israel and Hamas were close to a deal to free most of the kidnapped Israeli women and children with Israel simultaneously freeing Palestinian women and teenagers held in its prisons.
A deal could be announced within days if the details are worked out.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE
In the occupied West Bank, at least six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, the Palestinian health ministry and Palestinian media said.
At least three of them were killed in an Israeli drone strike, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing a hospital in the western city of Tulkarm.
The Israeli army and police said their forces, sent to Tulkarm to arrest suspected militants, were attacked and killed several Palestinian gunmen in the ensuing battle.
Israeli forces also shot dead at least two Palestinians during earlier clashes in the city’s refugee camp, WAFA reported.
The worsening violence in the West Bank comes after more than 18 months of bloodshed that has fueled fears the West Bank could erupt into a bigger conflict and a new front
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
