Indonesian hospital employees said that soldiers stormed a nearby school building on Monday and took away all the men there. The school building was then burned. According to employees, the fire spread to the hospital and damaged the generator, causing a power outage. Three hospitals in northern Gaza had to be evacuated by the army, but doctors refused to leave their patients. Kamal Adwan Hospital reported continuous shooting, especially at night.
Israel said it attacked Hamas infrastructure, including school buildings and hospitals, which only served as protection. At least 18 people died in Jabalia on Monday. At least 87 people died in neighboring Beit Lahia on Saturday. This means that the total death toll in northern Gaza increased to more than 100 in just a few days. 641 Palestinians were reported killed in seventeen days of fighting.
Several houses and a flat were razed to the ground in bombings in Beit Lahia on Saturday. The dead included three women and eight children. Israel called the figure 87 “excessive”. The Israeli army reported that they had killed ‘dozens’ of Hamas fighters, and said they were only hunting Hamas.
Dozens of people may still lie under the rubble of destroyed buildings. However, emergency personnel who want to search for survivors are not allowed to enter the area. The UN accuses Israel of intending to completely clear the area. Raed, a resident of Jabalia, told the Reuters news agency: ‘Jabalia is being destroyed. We will be killed by bombs or by thirst or hunger.”
‘Very dangerous flights’
The UN estimates that around 400,000 Palestinians still live in northern Gaza. This number is equivalent to 20 percent of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army has ordered all civilians to leave the area and move south, but many Palestinians refuse or cannot leave. According to the UN, fleeing is extremely dangerous due to the ongoing Israeli offensive.
Israel said it had cleared and abandoned northern Gaza several months ago, but several weeks ago it launched a new offensive to prevent Hamas from regrouping in the territory, the military said. Since October 1, they have closed North Gaza to the outside world.
Not a single aid convoy was allowed in for two weeks, while shelling intensified. After fierce protests from the international community, several dozen trucks carrying food and medicine were allowed to return to northern Gaza last week, and Israel said it was still allowing convoys in, but UNRWA chief Lazzarini reported Monday in X that Israel is once again not allowing it. . aid convoy passes.
‘Forced population migration’
The UN human rights office warned that life in Gaza had become ‘impossible’ because of Israel’s actions. According to UN officials, Israel’s actions will only lead to ‘death and destruction of the local population’ and forced population displacement. Israel appears to want to systematically expel all Palestinians from northern Gaza. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has warned that forced population transfers could amount to a ‘war crime’.
The BBC quoted a woman describing how a building across the road was directly affected on Saturday. “We were hit by a hail of rocks, then bigger concrete blocks started falling. Then the tanks started firing so hard and for so long that we couldn’t breathe because of the dust and smoke and no one could see each other any more.’
