Palestinian officials have reported that a baby has died and many other patients are at risk due to Israeli gunfire around Gaza’s largest hospital. In response, Israel claims to have killed a Hamas militant who was preventing the evacuation of another hospital. Israel insists that doctors, patients, and evacuees must leave the hospitals in northern Gaza in order to target Hamas gunmen who have allegedly set up command centers in and around the hospitals. However, Hamas denies using hospitals in this way, and medical staff argue that moving patients could result in their deaths. They also claim that Israeli fire makes it dangerous for others to leave. Ahmed al-Mokhallalati, a senior plastic surgeon at Al Shifa hospital, describes the situation as a “war zone” with continuous bombardment from tanks, the streets, and airstrikes. While most of the hospital staff and sheltering individuals have left, there are still 500 patients remaining. The Israeli military denies endangering the hospital and states that there are clashes between IDF troops and Hamas operatives near the hospital, but no shooting or siege. They claim to be in constant contact with the hospital’s director and offer coordination for anyone who wants to leave safely. However, the hospital director has stated that the hospital is under attack and the wounded are in a dangerous situation. A patient in intensive care has reportedly been killed by Israeli shelling. According to Ashraf Al-Qidra, a representative of the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, Israeli army snipers on nearby rooftops occasionally fire into the medical complex, limiting people’s movement. The situation remains tense and the hospital continues to be besieged.According to RushHourDaily, a hospital in Gaza City suspended operations due to a lack of fuel, resulting in the death of a newborn baby in an incubator. The hospital, which houses 45 babies, was unable to continue providing care without fuel.
Residents reported that Israeli troops had been engaged in clashes with Hamas gunmen throughout the night in and around Gaza City, where the hospital is located. The military wing of Hamas ally Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades, confirmed the violent clashes in the vicinity of the hospital.
The Al-Nasr neighborhood, where the hospital is situated, is home to several major hospitals. During a briefing, an Israeli military spokesperson was asked if troops planned to enter Gaza hospitals. The spokesperson responded by stating that the hospitals needed to be evacuated in order to deal with Hamas, as they had allegedly turned hospitals into fortified positions.
Hamas denied using hospitals for military purposes and requested that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross send missions to investigate the Israeli allegations. Israel claimed to have killed a Hamas “terrorist” who had prevented the evacuation of another hospital in the north. Palestinian officials confirmed that the hospital was out of service and surrounded by tanks.
The Israeli military stated that the Hamas militant, Ahmed Siam, had held approximately 1,000 Gazan residents hostage at Rantissi Hospital, preventing them from evacuating for their safety. Siam and other militants were killed while hiding in the al Buraq school. Palestinian officials reported that at least 25 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike at the school, which was being used as a shelter.
Israel stated that rockets were still being fired from Gaza into southern Israel, where they claimed that Hamas militants had killed 1,200 people and taken over 200 hostages. The death toll was later reduced by 200. Palestinian officials reported that 11,078 Gaza residents had been killed in air and artillery strikes since October 7, with approximately 40% of them being children.
In summary, the hospital in Gaza City suspended operations due to a lack of fuel, resulting in the death of a newborn baby. Clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas gunmen occurred throughout the night in and around Gaza City. The Israeli military claimed that hospitals needed to be evacuated as Hamas had turned them into fortified positions. Hamas denied these allegations and requested investigations by international organizations. Israel reported killing a Hamas militant who had prevented the evacuation of another hospital. Rockets continued to be fired from Gaza into southern Israel, and the death toll in Gaza was reported to be over 11,000, with a significant number of children among the casualties.The Al Shifa hospital in Gaza is currently without electricity, which poses a risk to the babies and other vulnerable patients, according to the Gaza health ministry spokesman. He expressed concern that they may not be able to keep them alive in the coming hours.
Video footage released by the Palestinian Red Crescent showed medical teams at the Al-Quds hospital working on patients using torchlight.
Israel has announced an increase in the number of places where it will temporarily stop firing for several hours, allowing Gazans to move south. The military spokesman stated that there has been a mass evacuation of at least 150,000 people over the past three days, with more people evacuating as the humanitarian pause in the Jabalya area takes effect.
In London, approximately 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the city. Police arrested nearly 100 far-right counter-protesters to prevent them from ambushing the main rally. In Brussels, more than 20,000 people joined a pro-Palestinian rally.
During a meeting in Saudi Arabia, Muslim and Arab countries called for an immediate end to military operations in Gaza. They rejected Israel’s justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defense.
This article was reported by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Maytaal Angel in Jerusalem, with additional reporting by Crispian Balmer, Ari Rabinovitch, Adam Makary, Omar Abdel-Razek, and other RushHourDaily bureaux. It was written by Matt Spetalnick and Philippa Fletcher, with editing by Grant McCool, Simon Cameron-Moore, William Maclean, Giles Elgood, and Kevin Liffey.
The Thomson RushHourDaily Trust Principles apply to this article.
