Israeli troops kill dozens, besiege 2 hospitals in new Gaza attacks
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A boy surveying a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike in central Gaza, killing at least 18 people, on March 25.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CAIRO – Israel’s soldiers have killed dozens of people in new attacks in the Gaza Strip, and maintained a blockade of two hospitals where they say Hamas militants are hiding.
This is happening as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said there is growing international consensus around telling Israel a ceasefire is needed, and that an assault on Rafah will cause a humanitarian disaster.
Rafah, the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, was among the cities that came under fire in the latest attacks.
Palestinian medics said 30 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours in Rafah, whose population has been swollen by displaced Palestinians escaping fighting elsewhere in Gaza after more than five months of war.
“With every bombing that takes place in Rafah, we fear the tanks will come in. The past 24 hours were one of the worst days since we moved into Rafah,” said Mr Abu Khaled, a father of seven who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals.
“In Rafah, we live in fear, we are hungry, we are homeless, and our future is unknown. With no ceasefire in sight, we might end up dead or displaced somewhere else, maybe north and maybe south (to Egypt),” he told Reuters via a chat app.
Dozens of Palestinians took part in rallies and attended funerals early on March 25 after an Israeli air strike killed 18 Palestinians in one house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, Palestinians medics and witnesses said.
Israeli forces were also besieging Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals
Israel says hospitals in Gaza are used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as bases, and has released videos and pictures supporting the assertion. Hamas and medical staff deny this, and did not say whether any fighters were among those killed in the latest attacks.
The Israeli military said in a statement on March 25 its forces were “continuing to conduct precise operational activity in the Shifa Hospital area while preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams, and medical equipment”.
It said its forces detained 500 people affiliated with Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad and located weapons in the area. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said hundreds of patients and medical staff were detained at Al-Shifa.
Israel’s military also said its forces continued “precisely targeted raids on terror infrastructure in Al-Amal”, and that “20 terrorists were eliminated in the Al-Amal area over the past day in close-quarters combat and aerial strikes”.
Growing consensus
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and 74,500 injured in Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Palestinians health officials say.
Israel began its military campaign after Hamas-led Islamist militants attacked its south on Oct 7
American-backed mediation by Qatar and Egypt has so far failed to secure an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner swop and the unfettered provision of aid to Gaza civilians, with each side sticking to core demands.
Hamas wants any deal to bring an end to the war and entail the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel has ruled this out, saying it will keep fighting until Hamas, which is sworn to its destruction, is eradicated as a political and military force.
A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediation effort told Reuters the gap between the two sides had not been bridged yet, blaming the lack of progress on Israel and the United States for refusing to commit to ending the war.
Israel blames Hamas for the failure to secure a deal.
Signs of strain have emerged in relations between Israel and its main ally, the US, as the humanitarian plight of civilians in Gaza worsened and fears of famine grew in the coastal enclave that is home to about 2.3 million people.
“We see a growing consensus emerging in the international community to tell the Israelis that the ceasefire is needed,” Mr Guterres, the UN chief, said on a visit to Jordan.
He told reporters he also saw “a growing consensus” among the US, the European Union and “not to mention, of course, the Muslim world, to tell clearly to Israelis that any ground invasion of Rafah could mean a humanitarian disaster”. REUTERS
