Israel bombed the Strip on Thursday Loopeven in the south, where he asked the Palestinians to move, while the Israeli Defense Minister told his infantry that he was preparing to invade, although he did not specify when.
Overwhelmed hospitals in Gaza were trying to get medical supplies and fuel for their generators, while authorities worked on the logistics of delivering aid from Egypt. Doctors stitched wounds by the light of mobile phones in the dark wards of Gaza, and others used vinegar to treat infected wounds.
Meanwhile, an unclassified US intelligence report delivered to Congress indicated that the explosion at a Gaza City hospital had killed between 100 and 300 people. The death toll “continues to reflect a staggering loss of life,” U.S. intelligence officials said in the findings, which were seen by The Associated Press.
The Israeli army has attacked Gaza non-stop in retaliation for a Hamas attack in southern Israel almost two weeks ago. Even after Israel asked Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza and flee south, it continues to bomb the entire territory, raising fears among the territory’s 2.3 million residents that nowhere is safe.
On Thursday, Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and tensions flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In a fiery Addressing Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged forces to “organize and be prepared” for an incursion order. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.
“It may take us a week, a month or two months to destroy them,” he added, referring to Hamas.
Israel’s consent for Egypt to deliver food, water and medicine marked the first possible opening in its encirclement of the territory. Many Gazans limit themselves to one meal a day and drink non-potable water.
Egypt and Israel were still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals. Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hamas had stolen fuel from UN facilities and that Israel wanted assurances that this would not happen again. The first aid trucks were expected to arrive on Friday, Egyptian state news outlet Al-Qahera reported.
With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing at Rafah still closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza’s second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Power was cut to most departments to reserve it for intensive care and other vital functions, and staff members used mobile phones for lighting.
At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead were taken to hospital Thursday morning after witnesses said an attack hit a residential building in Khan Yunis. Doctors had no choice but to let two of the new arrivals die because they did not have ventilators, Qandeel said.
“We can’t save any more lives if this keeps happening, which means more children…more women will die,” she said.
The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give hospitals their remaining fuel. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, delivered some of its few remaining fuel reserves to hospitals, according to spokeswoman Juliette Touma.
The agency’s donation to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, “will keep us going for a few more hours,” said the hospital’s director, Mohammed Abu Selmia.
Gaza’s Al Ahli hospital was still dealing with the aftermath of Tuesday’s explosion, which remains a point of contention between Hamas and Israel. Hamas claims the hospital was the target of an Israeli airstrike. Israel denied involvement. The AP has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence published by the parties.
Tuesday’s explosion left mortal remains scattered across the hospital grounds, where large numbers of Palestinians had gathered hoping to escape Israeli bombing. The US assessment says there was only “slight structural damage” to the hospital, with no impact crater visible.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 3,785 people have died in Gaza since the war began, most of them women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 more people have been injured and another 1,300 people are believed to have been buried under the rubble, health authorities said.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them civilians killed during the October 7 Hamas incursion. About 200 people were kidnapped.
The agreement to deliver aid to Gaza remained fragile. Israel claimed that the supplies could only be delivered to civilians in southern Gaza and that it would “thwart” any diversion by Hamas. US President Joe Biden said deliveries “will end” if Hamas takes any aid.
More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid are at or near the Rafah border crossing, ready to enter, said Red Crescent director for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.
Source: Gestion
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