Gaza, patients and medical staff leave Al-Shifa hospital

2023-11-18 08:23:00

Patients and medical staff “are leaving Al-Shifa hospital” which had already been abandoned by many people earlier in the week, after the arrival of the Israeli military. Medical staff said they received the order to evacuate from the Israeli military this morning. The military instead announced that it had offered a safe corridor for those wishing to leave the compound.

Hundreds of people are leaving the hospital complex and, on foot, heading towards the south of the Gaza Strip. Newborns who need intensive care are placed two in each incubator, the general director announced. “Dozens of injured people will die on the streets,” he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. In the last few hours, six patients on dialysis and 22 in the intensive care unit have died.

A total of 137 people, Doctors Without Borders staff from Al-Shifa hospital and their families, including 65 children, are stranded near the compound where Israeli military forces have been operating for days, the international organization reported. Attempts to displace this group of people have so far failed. For this reason, MSF is calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow the evacuation of civilians. The lack of food and water risks causing deaths “in the days or even in the next few hours”. The MSF guesthouse and water tank were hit by fire on Tuesday and the offices by grenades on Thursday. No one was burned or injured.

ISRAELI RAIDS

Meanwhile, Israeli air raids have struck near the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza. This was reported by the Palestinian agency Wafa, which writes of “intense raids” while Israeli operations continue in the Strip after the October 7 attack by Hamas in Israel.

An Israeli raid in southern Gaza left 26 people dead, including many children. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. According to Time, 23 people were injured in the Israeli bombing of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Strip, in which three buildings were hit.

In an Israeli raid on a building in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, West Bank, at least five Palestinians were killed and two others injured, the Red Crescent reports. The victims ranged in age from 19 to 25. One of them is a leading member of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, among those most wanted by Israel.

In a joint statement, the military forces and the Israeli Shin Bet internal security services said that the Palestinians killed in the Balata camp were planning terrorist attacks against Israelis. Among them also Muhammad Zahed, alleged planner of several attacks in Israel in recent years.

The Israeli military has made a series of arrests in Hebron, including Qutaiba Omar al-Qwasma, brother of the Jerusalem attacker earlier in the week. A Palestinian was killed during an “activity” by Israeli forces in Tubas.

The IDF also found “Hamas weapons and military equipment” during a raid on a high school in Gaza. ‘The Times of Israel’ reports it. Tsahal raided several sites used by Hamas, killing some members of the group. The troops also raided the house of a Hamas commander, finding weapons and Hamas educational brochures, according to the IDF.

IDF: “ISRAEL MILITARY WILL ALSO ADVANCE TO SOUTH GAZA”

The Israeli military will also act in southern Gaza, the spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, anticipated in a briefing late yesterday evening. This will happen “when deemed necessary”, he simply added. “We will act wherever Hamas is located, including in the southern Gaza Strip.”

Hamas has confirmed the death of Ahmad Bahar, a 76-year-old member of its political office and vice president of the Palestinian Legislative Council, who died yesterday from injuries sustained in an Israeli air raid in Gaza. The Jerusalem Post reports this on the basis of reports from the Arab media in the aftermath of the rumors about Bahar’s killing.

ROCKET GUARANTEE FROM LEBANON, ISRAEL ATTACKS HEZBOLLAH TARGETS

Israeli forces (IDF) are attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after launching around 25 rockets from the south of the Cedar Country towards northern Israel. The Israeli media reported this after the anti-missile warning sirens sounded again in places in the north of the country, between Sasa and Shtula. The rockets fell in open areas, causing no casualties.

At dawn today an Israeli drone launched two missiles against an aluminum factory along the road between Toul and Kfour, in southern Lebanon. This was reported by the Lebanese media, which relaunched news from the Nna agency, writing that it would be the first time since the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah that the center of the Nabatieh region has been targeted by the Israelis. According to sources, the plant, about fifteen kilometers from the demarcation line of the border between Israel and Hamas, was destroyed by flames. Lebanese media reports no casualties. For now there is no confirmation of the operation from the Israeli side (which also announced that it had struck Hezbollah targets in the south of the Cedar Country in recent hours), while the Lebanese media report that previously Hezbollah had claimed to have shot down a Israeli drone.

GAS FUELS

Israel has allowed two trucks of fuel a day to enter the Gaza Strip, following pressure from the United States. This is the equivalent of 70 thousand liters of fuel per day, specified a US State Department source, quoted by the BBC, underlining that this load will be destined for vehicles carrying humanitarian aid and for UN personnel providing water and sanitation services. sanitary facilities and also to make it possible to power mobile phones and internet services. The connection returned after UNRWA supplied fuel to Gaza’s communications company, it was revealed yesterday.

MARCH TO RELEASE HOSTAGES ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF JERUSALEM

Meanwhile, the Israeli march to demand the release of the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has arrived on the outskirts of Jerusalem, in Mevaseret Zion. This was reported by the Times of Israel, according to which the participants intend to reach the prime minister’s office in the afternoon.

Time writes of thousands marching towards Jerusalem with the families of the hostages, while the Times of Israel, citing the organizers, speaks of tens of thousands of people in the procession. Time also reports on a protest initiative planned in front of the Knesset.

One of the Tanzanian students who disappeared following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 has died. This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania. The victim, Clemence Felix Mtenga, was among 260 Tanzanian students studying agriculture in Israel.

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