Battles between Israel and Palestinian fighters around hospitals forced thousands of civilians to flee from some of the last perceived safe places in northern Gaza, stranding critically wounded patients, newborns and their caregivers with dwindling supplies and no electricity, Palestinian health officials said.
It would be recalled that relentless Israeli air strikes on Gaza has continued for the 39th day killing at least 11,240 Palestinians, including more than 8,000 women and children, since October 7.
Gunfire and explosions raged around Gaza City’s main hospital, Al Shifa, which has been encircled by Israeli troops for days.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the hospital in the past few days and headed to the southern Gaza, including large numbers of displaced people who had taken shelter there, as well as patients who could move.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society issued a statement denying Israeli claims of the presence of Palestinian gunmen inside Al Quds Hospital in Gaza.
The Red Crescent condemned the Israeli army’s “false allegations of gunmen firing from inside Al Quds Hospital.”
It also considered the claims “incitement to target the hospital” in a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the Hamas has lost control over Gaza City as his army continues to advance inside Gaza.
In a statement cited by the Times of Israel news website, Gallant said following an army assessment session that “there is no force of Hamas capable of stopping” the Israeli army.
He added that the Israeli army is advancing inside Gaza “according to plans and carry out the tasks accurately, lethally.”
The international community has failed to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as shown by its continuation, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said.
“This dramatic crisis, with its very high cost in terms of Israeli and Palestinian human lives, shows the political and moral failure of the international community in failing to find a solution to this conflict,” Josep Borrell told a press conference after an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.
”This tragedy should be an occasion for everyone to understand that a solution must be sought that can only be based on the construction of two states,” he added.
The Israeli army confirmed the identity of a soldier being held hostage by Hamas, after the military wing of the Palestinian resistance group published a video showing the young woman in captivity.
The army expressed sympathy for the Marciano family, stating that their daughter, Noa, was abducted by Hamas.
“We are using all means, both intelligence and operational, to bring the hostages home,” the army said in a statement released shortly after midnight.