More than a hundred thousand residents of the city of Gaza have left the area in recent hours, heading south. Meanwhile, at least six hospitals reported being surrounded or in close proximity to the fighting. The director of al-Shifa Hospital, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, said that “this day was a day of war against hospitals.” The United Nations, which wants to investigate the Israeli bombing of the enclave, has criticized the four-hour daily breaks announced by Tel Aviv through the voice of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese.
The Israeli military confirmed that they had surrounded several hospitals and demanded that they be evacuated, as they claim that these facilities are being used by Hamas as storage centers for supplies and fuel. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said Hamas fired from those locations. “If we see Hamas terrorists shooting from hospitals, we will do whatever is necessary. We are aware of the sensitive nature of hospitals,” he assured.
In the early hours of Friday, Israel attacked the courtyard and obstetric ward of al-Shifa hospital, killing at least 13 people and wounding several. In total, Israel bombed the hospital five times, Hamas said. The same source states that another attack near al-Nasr Medical Center killed two people. The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least one person was killed and 20 injured in a firefight by Israeli forces at Al-Quds Hospital.
The Islamist group denies using hospitals, which is supported by the doctors who work there. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the director of al-Shifa deplored the attacks on health facilities. “The sick and injured occupy all the corridors of the hospital and we cannot perform surgical operations,” Muhammad Abu Salmiya said. In addition to scarce resources, hospitals and surrounding areas were occupied by thousands of displaced people seeking refuge. “We cannot find a single bed for the victims. We are making difficult decisions between who to save and who to let die… I am standing in front of a hundred dead bodies,” said the director of Gaza’s largest medical facility.
The latest death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas reaches 11,000, of which 4,506 are minors.
In addition to the besieged hospitals, 21 of the 35 existing hospitals in the Gaza Strip have been closed.
The US decision that the Israeli army will suspend operations for four hours a day drew criticism from the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine. “The bombing has been continuous, 6,000 bombs a week in the Gaza Strip, on this small piece of land where people are trapped and the destruction is enormous,” said Francesca Albanese.
According to a report, after a month of war, poverty in Palestine increased by 20%, while GDP fell by 4.2%
“The four-hour ceasefire, yes, to let people breathe and remember what life is like without bombing, before you start bombing them again. It’s very cynical and cruel.” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for an investigation into Israel’s attacks on Gaza on the day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that “too many Palestinians have been killed” in recent weeks. have died.”
Biden will put pressure on Xi
The leaders of the United States and China will meet next Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay area, the White House confirmed. It will be the first meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in a year, the result of several preparatory visits aimed at limiting damage and rebuilding bridges in a bilateral relationship that has plummeted since the crisis caused by Chinese spy balloons. The meeting, the second in-person meeting since the Democrat became president, is the Chinese leader’s first visit to the United States in six years, when he met Donald Trump at the Florida resort.
Although this is not the central topic on the agenda, the war between Israel and Hamas will be discussed. “I believe the President will underscore our desire that China, in its growing relationship with Iran, make clear that it is essential that Iran does not seek to escalate or spread violence in the Middle East, and warn very clearly that if Iran takes provocative actions, the United States is prepared to respond quickly,” a senior US official told reporters. Beijing is at the forefront of those calling for a ceasefire, while the country does not align itself with one side or the other.
In a phone call with his Qatari counterpart, Iran’s head of diplomacy, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, viewed the expansion of the war beyond the Gaza Strip as “inevitable” as Israel’s time “to continue its crimes is now coming to an end” ‘.
Source: DN
