Israeli strikes kill 19 in Gaza; hospital in north makes distress call
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Women and children, who were injured during an Israeli strike, waiting in front of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in central Gaza.
PHOTO: AFP
CAIRO – Israeli forces killed at least 19 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Nov 20, including a rescue worker, as tanks deepened their incursion in the area and blew up homes.
Medics said at least 12 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. They added that at least 10 people remained missing as rescue operations continued. Another man was killed during a tank shelling nearby, they said.
In the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, the Palestinian civil emergency said an Israeli air strike targeted one of their teams during a rescue operation, killing one employee and wounding three others.
The death raised the number of civil emergency service members killed since Oct 7, 2023, to 87, it said.
Adding to the challenges facing the healthcare system in northern Gaza, the civil emergency service said its vehicles were hardly operational because of fuel and equipment shortages, citing Israel’s continued refusal to allow them to bring the needed supplies.
In Rafah, in southern Gaza, medics said a man was killed and others wounded in an Israeli air strike on the eastern side of the city.
Residents in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, where the Israeli army has operated since early in October, said forces blew up dozens of houses in the three areas, adding to fears Israel was seeking to clear residents to create a buffer zone, something Israel denies.
Israel said it sent forces into the two towns and refugee camp to fight Hamas militants launching attacks and to prevent them from regrouping. It said it had killed hundreds of them since Oct 5.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad armed wing claimed they killed many Israeli soldiers in anti-tank and mortar fire, as well as ambushes by explosive devices during the same period.
Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities barely operational in northern Gaza, said the hospital came under Israeli fire on Nov 19.
“The healthcare system is still operating under extremely harsh conditions. Following the arrest of 45 members of the medical and surgical staff and the denial of entry to a replacement team, we are now losing wounded patients daily who could have survived if resources were available,” Dr Abu Safiya said.
“Unfortunately, food and water are not allowed to enter and not even a single ambulance is permitted access to the north. Yesterday, the hospital was bombed across all its departments without warning as we were trying to save an injured person in the intensive care unit,” he added.
$6.7 million reward for each hostage
Speaking during a visit to Gaza on Nov 19, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas would not rule the Palestinian enclave
He also said Israel has not given up trying to locate the 101 remaining hostages believed to still be in the enclave, and he offered a US$5 million (S$6.7 million) reward for the return of each one.
Qatar, a key ceasefire mediator alongside Egypt, said it informed Hamas and Israel that it will stall its mediation efforts unless the two warring parties showed “willingness and seriousness” to reach a deal.
Hamas wants a deal that ends the war, while Mr Netanyahu vowed the war can only end once Hamas is eradicated.
The 2023 attack on Israel
Israel responded with its most destructive offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 44,000 Palestinians and turning the enclave into a wasteland of rubble, with millions desperate for food, fuel, water and sanitation. REUTERS
