Israeli forces launched airstrikes on or near four hospitals and a school in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 22 civilians, according to Gaza officials. In recent hours, the Army has intensified attacks around the Al Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza City and where two premature babies died during the bombings this Saturday afternoon. Israel believes that the tunnels of Hamas militants are located in its underground. One of the last attacks hit the entrance to the hospital and caused the death of 13 people.
“Due to the lack of electricity, we can report that the neonatal intensive care unit has stopped working. Two premature babies died and there is a real risk to the lives of another 37 premature babies” at Al Shifa hospital, the NGO Doctors for said today. human rights.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has denounced the “catastrophic situation” caused by the Israeli attacks and declared that for hours, they have not been able to contact their colleagues at the health center. “We urgently reiterate our calls to stop attacks on hospitals and to protect medical facilities, medical staff and patients,” MSF said in a statement. The airstrikes were condemned by virtually all international humanitarian organizations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) was “extremely disturbed” by the attacks in the vicinity of Al Shifa and noted that at least 20 hospitals in the Strip have been out of service due to the Israeli attacks and the blockade at the entrance. of fuel and medical supplies in the territory. The WHO believes that around 50,000 people are in the Al Shifa hospital, including health personnel, the sick and hundreds of displaced civilians from northern Gaza.
“In recent hours the attacks on Al Shifa hospital have intensified dramatically. Our staff at the hospital reported a catastrophic situation inside just a few hours ago,” MSF said before losing contact with its colleagues. “There is a patient who needs surgery. There is a patient sleeping in our department. We cannot evacuate the medical personnel and (leave) civilians inside. As a doctor, I must take care of people who need help,” said a doctor at the center. in statements published by MSF. For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent denounced that hospitals are being “deliberately attacked” to force civilians to leave Gaza.
Given the failure of negotiations for a “humanitarian pause” of several days, the Israeli Army continues to open a window of four hours a day without attacks so that the population of the northern Strip can move south. According to Tel Aviv, at least 100,000 people have fled the area this week.
The New York Times, citing sources in Israel and Hamas, announced that negotiations continue for a several-day pause in exchange for the release of hostages by Hamas, and that both sides would once again be close to an agreement. “Under the proposal being discussed, Hamas would release 10 to 20 civilian hostages,” the Times notes. “This could be followed by a larger release of around 100 civilians, if the conditions are met,” he adds.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is organizing a summit of Arab leaders and Iran today with the intention of moving towards a ceasefire and showing firm collective condemnation against Israel’s attacks. The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad – which supports Hamas on the ground – said yesterday that they “expected nothing” from the meeting in Riyadh and criticized Arab leaders for taking so long to call a summit to end the Israeli offensive.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attacked the United States in front of the press before attending the summit. “The Americans say they do not want the expansion of war… but their words and actions do not match. It is the Americans who provide the fuel for the Zionists’ war machine,” Raisi said.
Parallel to the meeting, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah party, Hasan Nasrallah, who supports Hamas, will give a second speech to his followers about the war in the Gaza Strip. Since last October 7, tension has increased on the border between Lebanon and Israel, with constant attacks and skirmishes between Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah militants against the Israeli Army. In the last month, at least 78 militants of the Lebanese group have been killed in clashes.
