The Israeli military said soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid on the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia camp. Hamas and the doctors have denied any militant presence at the hospital.
The Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and shelling on Monday, 13 of them in the north of the devastated coastal territory.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were isolated in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical supplies or food. Reuters could not independently verify the number.
The emergency service said its operations had been halted due to the three-week-long Israeli assault into the north, an area where the army said it had wiped out viable Hamas fighting forces early in the year-long war.
As talks led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to negotiate a ceasefire resumed Sunday after multiple failed attempts, Egypt’s president proposed an initial two-day truce to exchange four Israeli Hamas hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, which would be followed by talks within 10 days. days of permanent ceasefire.
There was no public comment from Israel or Hamas, which have stuck to irreconcilable conditions for ending the war.
The Gaza war has sparked a broader conflict in the Middle East, raising fears of global instability, with Israeli forces invading southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from attacking northern Israel with rockets in support of the Iranian-backed Hamas militant group. in Gaza.
It has also triggered rare direct confrontations between Middle East archenemies Israel and Iran. Over the weekend, Israeli warplanes attacked missile sites in Iran in retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian missile barrage against Israel.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Tehran would “use all available tools” to respond to the weekend Israeli attack.
ISRAELI ASSAULT ON NORTH GAZA HOSPITAL
The three hospitals in northern Gaza, where officials rejected evacuation orders from the Israeli army, said they were barely functioning. At least two were damaged by Israeli fire during the assault and were left without medical supplies, food and fuel.
At least one doctor, one nurse and two child patients died in those hospitals due to lack of treatment last week.
On Monday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said only one of approximately 70 medical staff – a pediatrician – remained at Kamal Adwan Hospital after Israel “detained and expelled” the others.
The Israeli military said soldiers who stormed the hospital “detained approximately 100 terrorists from the complex, including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians.” Inside the hospital they found weapons, terrorist funds and intelligence documents.”
Residents of northern Gaza said Israeli forces were laying siege to schools and other shelters housing displaced families, ordering them to leave before rounding up men and moving women and children out of the area toward Gaza City and the south.
‘Pointless ceasefire discussions’
Only a few families headed to southern Gaza, as most preferred to temporarily relocate to Gaza City, fearing that they would never be able to regain access to their homes.
Some said they had written obituaries in case they died from the constant bombing, saying they would prefer death to displacement.
“While the world is busy with Lebanon and new nonsense about a few days of ceasefire (in Gaza), the Israeli occupation is razing northern Gaza and displacing its people,” a resident of Jabalia told Reuters via a chat application.
“(But) neither (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu nor Eiland will be able to get us out of northern Gaza.”
Giora Eiland, former head of Israel’s National Security Council, was the lead author of a much-debated proposal called the “generals’ plan” that would allow Israel to quickly clear northern Gaza of civilians before starving surviving fighters. of Hamas cutting off their water. and food supplies.
This month’s Israeli tank attack sparked Palestinian accusations that the military had adopted the Eiland concept, which it envisioned as a short-term step to defeat Hamas in the north, but which Palestinians fear is intended to clear the area for good. to create a buffer zone for the military after the war.
The Israeli military has denied carrying out any such plan. It says its forces operate in accordance with international law and target militants hiding among civilians and using them as human shields, a charge Hamas denies.
Northern Gaza was the first part of the enclave to be hit by Israel’s ground offensive in the territory following the Hamas cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, with intense shelling largely leveling towns such as Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya. .
However, Hamas-led militants continue to attack Israeli forces in hit-and-run operations with anti-tank rockets, mortar salvos, and bombs placed in buildings, streets, and other areas where they anticipate Israeli forces will take up positions.
The war broke out after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.
The death toll from Israel’s retaliatory air and ground strikes on Gaza has reached 43,020, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in an update on Monday, with the densely populated enclave largely reduced to rubble.
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