Israeli military operations in northern Gaza are putting some of the last functioning hospitals in the area at risk, Gaza health officials announced on Saturday, adding that Israeli forces have been operating within the enclave in recent months. They are carrying out what is believed to be one of their most aggressive attacks.
The Gaza Health Ministry announced that Israeli forces surrounded three medical centers in northern Gaza – Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and Indonesian Hospitals – around midnight. The Israeli military confirmed that its forces were operating near the Indonesian hospital, but declined to immediately comment on the other two hospitals.
The ministry said Israeli forces fired gunshots and shells at an Indonesian hospital on the outskirts of Jabaliya, which has been at the center of several days of heavy Israeli attacks. The attack left more than 40 patients and medical staff injured, and two critically ill patients died after the hospital lost power, the World Health Organization’s director-general said in a statement on social media on Saturday.
The Israeli military said it was working to minimize damage to civilians during the operation near the Indonesian hospital. “The hospital continues to operate at full capacity without disruption and there were no intentional shots fired at the hospital,” the military said in a statement.
In a separate statement, the military said late Saturday that it had evacuated about 100 people from Jabaliya during the operation and was working to keep the hospital’s emergency services functioning. He did not specifically address the Gaza Health Ministry’s claim that Israeli forces had besieged Kamal Adwan Medical Center and Al-Awda Medical Center.
Israeli forces stormed Jabaliya this month, at least the third major attack since the war began a year ago. The military characterized the attack as an attack on resurgent Hamas fighters in the area. The operation has been underway for days since Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a gunfight in southern Gaza, with Israel saying his death could pave the way for a de-escalation of the war. It’s dampening expectations.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said.
Israel issued an evacuation warning for Jabariya last week, but many people remain, believing there is nowhere safe to flee. The United Nations announced that the remaining population was effectively under siege.
Jonathan Whittall, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Jerusalem, said on Saturday that the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Gaza was “very worrying”. Israel has allowed relatively few aid trucks into the region since earlier this month, increasing the threat of hunger and poverty.
“Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated and we received reports today that hospitals are on fire and staff and patients are injured,” Whittle said in a statement. “We are ready to provide food and supplies, but lives are being lost and time is running out.”
On Saturday, the fog of war settled over Jabaliya, leaving many residents unable to reach them by phone or text message. Partel, a leading Palestinian mobile phone company, said the Israeli attack had caused widespread communication outages in northern Gaza, making it difficult to independently confirm what was happening inside hospitals.
The Palestinian Civil Defense Forces, an emergency service under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said dozens of people were killed or injured in Jabaliya in an overnight Israeli attack.
Hani Ardibus, a high school teacher in the town, said by phone Saturday that her family remained at home because they felt they had no safe place to go. If they abandon their homes, Hamas fighters could use them as military bases and Israeli forces could shell them, he said.
Israeli forces also attacked schools and hospitals where people had taken refuge, claiming Hamas was trying to operate there unscathed.
“In my home, we know that we are not a threat to the Israeli military,” Ardibus said. “How can we be sure that wherever we might run away, we won’t be next to the person we want?”
He and his family stayed in Jabariya for nearly two weeks as fighting intensified. They reportedly stayed in the center of the house, avoiding windows and doors for fear of being mistaken by Israeli soldiers for militants.
On Friday morning, an explosion destroyed part of his home and buried several of his relatives, including his mother. Ardibus survived, but said his wife and two of their four young children were still under the rubble.
Paramedics rushed Mr. al-Dibus and other survivors to Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City. As for the families left behind, he said emergency personnel were unable to reach the scene due to the fighting.
UNRWA, the United Nations’ main agency supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, says some are staying, but tens of thousands of people have left Jabaliya since Israel launched an operation there two weeks ago. An estimated 20,000 people were evacuated on Friday alone.
In Jabaliya, even on the outskirts of town, newly evacuated Gazans can still hear the constant sounds of shelling and shelling.
Montaser Baja, an English teacher and resident of Jabaliya, fled with his wife and children after a relative was wounded by gunfire on the first day of the Israeli offensive. Now living in Gaza City, he is desperately worried about the fate of their home. They fear it may have been bombed in their absence.
“Gaza is over, it feels like it’s over,” said Bahaja, 50. “Even if the war is over, how can we rebuild?” Who would want to live here? ”
