Gaza:
Israeli soldiers searched Gaza’s main hospital building by building, as fears grew for Palestinian civilians trapped inside the facility due to a new communications blackout in the area on Friday.
More than 11,500 Palestinians, including thousands of children, have been killed in Israel’s brutal aerial bombardment and ground crackdown, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Al-Shifa hospital has become the focal point of Israeli operations in northern Gaza as troops raided the compound on Wednesday, searching for a command center they say Hamas operates there. During a search that lasted several days, Israeli forces found no evidence of military activity at the hospital.
Hamas and hospital managers deny that allegation, and there is international concern about several thousand people – including injured patients and premature babies – believed to be trapped inside.
A photo taken from the border between Israel and Gaza shows smoke rising during Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP
Israeli officials have defended their operation, and the army claimed on Thursday that it found rifles, ammunition, explosives and the entrance to a tunnel shaft in al-Shifa.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that the hostages may also have been held in a medical facility.
“We had strong indications that he was being held at Shifa Hospital, which is one of the reasons why we entered the hospital,” he told “CBS Evening News.” “if they were [there]They were taken out,” he said.
The allegations regarding the hospital have not been confirmed and communications with the Gaza Strip were once again broken on Friday.
Network provider Paltel Group said all telecommunications shut down because “all energy sources maintaining the network have been exhausted, and fuel was not allowed”.
The United Nations warned that the blackout would increase hardships for civilians, complicate efforts to distribute aid and potentially lead to looting of supplies.
“When you have a blackout and you can’t communicate with anyone… it increases the anxiety and panic even more,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
Israel said its forces were searching al-Shifa “one building at a time” and claimed to have found the body of a female hostage in a nearby building.
Negotiations are underway for the release of prisoners in exchange for stopping the fighting.
Qatar, where Hamas has political offices, and Egypt are mediating what Egypt’s foreign minister described on Thursday as a “very delicate” discussion.
Sameh Shoukry said, “We hope that our efforts and the efforts of others will lead to a speedy release.”
UN agencies have warned that conditions for Palestinian civilians on the ground are rapidly deteriorating.
More than 1.5 million people have been internally displaced, and Israel’s blockade of the area means “civilians face the immediate possibility of starvation,” said Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme.
Food and water have become “practically non-existent”, the agency said, with Lazzarini describing children sheltering at a UN school “begging for a sip of water, or a loaf of bread”.
Israel’s ground campaign so far has focused on the north of the Gaza Strip, where it has announced the seizure of the parliament building, government offices, Hamas police headquarters and a major port. He says that 51 of his soldiers have been killed in the fighting.
Hospitals have become a particular target, with Israel bombing medical facilities without reason or justification.
Palestinian health officials said Thursday that al-Ahli hospital was hit, with the Palestinian Red Crescent saying medical staff could not reach casualties in the courtyard because of explosions and gunfire.
Washington has backed Israel’s allegations that Hamas is using hospitals as command centres, while urging operations to be “incredibly careful”.
The Health Ministry said that more than half of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer functioning due to war, damage or shortages, and that Israel’s attack on al-Shifa has caused extensive damage to radiology, burn and dialysis units.
As international concern about the conflict grows, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Wednesday urging an “immediate and extended humanitarian halt” in the fighting.
But the resolution – passed with the absence of the United States, Britain and Russia – was rejected by Israel as “detached from reality”.
Along with the conflict in Gaza, there is growing concern about violence in the West Bank, where violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has increased.
Israeli soldiers during the invasion of the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP
Three gunmen killed an Israeli soldier and wounded five others on Thursday at a checkpoint leading from the West Bank to Jerusalem, in an attack claimed by Hamas.
AFP correspondents there said that overnight a large deployment of Israeli troops raided the Jenin refugee camp, sparking clashes. Israel’s military had no immediate comment.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday urged Israel to take “urgent” action to ease tensions in the West Bank, including confronting rising levels of settler extremist violence, the State Department said.
Elsewhere, Israeli warplanes again hit targets near the Syrian capital, Syria’s state news agency reported. The attacks caused damage but there were no reports of any casualties.
