DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in an urban refugee camp and outside a nearby hospital on Tuesday, as the army expanded operations in northern Gaza, where residents lack electricity or reliable access to water, Food etc. had different bases for weeks.
The front line of the war, now in its seventh week, has shifted to the Jabaliya refugee camp, a dense maze of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses families displaced by the war over the creation of Israel in 1948 became. Israel has been bombing the area for weeks and the military said Hamas fighters had regrouped there and in other eastern districts after being driven out of much of Gaza City.
Fighting has also intensified outside the nearby Indonesian hospital, where 12 people were killed in a strike on Monday, according to Palestinian health authorities. They said Tuesday that hundreds of patients and displaced people were trapped inside with supplies running low, after about 200 were evacuated the previous day.
Senior Hamas officials, meanwhile, said they were close to reaching an agreement through international mediators to release some of the estimated 240 people the group took hostage in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war . Talks have repeatedly stalled and previous predictions of a breakthrough proved premature.
Two journalists from Al-Mayadeen TV were killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, according to the Pan-Arab Network and Lebanese officials. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has repeatedly clashed with the militant Hezbollah group since the war broke out.
POOR CONDITIONS IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH
The war has taken a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, particularly those who remain in the north after Israel repeatedly called on people to flee south.
It is unclear how many remain, but the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees estimates that about 160,000 people are still living in their shelters there, even though it can no longer provide its services. Some 1.7 million Palestinians, about three-quarters of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes and many have flocked to U.N. schools and other facilities in the territory’s south.
With shelters overcrowded, people were forced to sleep outside on the streets despite winter rains lashing the coastal enclave in recent days. Across the Gaza Strip, where there has been no central electricity for over a month, there are shortages of food, water and fuel for generators.
Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targets across the Gaza Strip, including in the southern evacuation zone, often killing women and children. Officials have suggested it may soon expand its operations in the south.
BATTLES IN JABALIYA AND AROUND HOSPITALS
The Israeli military said forces in the Jabaliya area were “preparing the battlefield” and said they attacked three tunnel shafts where fighters were hiding and destroyed rocket launchers. Footage released by the military showed Israeli soldiers patrolling on foot as gunfire rang out around them.
Residents said there was heavy fighting as Israeli forces tried to advance under the cover of airstrikes. “The (Israeli) occupation is trying to lay siege to the camp,” said Hamza Abu Mansour, a university student. “They face stiff resistance.”
It was not possible to independently confirm details of the fighting.
Faced with airstrikes and advancing Israeli troops, tens of thousands of Palestinians in the north had sought refuge in hospitals, but these have been gradually emptied as the fighting reached its doors and most are no longer operational.
The hospital situation in Gaza is “catastrophic,” Michael Ryan, a senior World Health Organization official, said on Monday. In the north, “it’s the worst thing you can imagine.”
Munir al-Boursh, a senior health ministry official who said he was at the Indonesian hospital, told Al-Jazeera television by telephone that Israeli forces had besieged it and forced health workers to bury 50 bodies in the courtyard. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Palestinian officials said an Israeli shell hit the hospital on Monday, killing 12 people. Israel denied shelling the hospital but said its troops returned fire on militants who attacked them from within.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, up to 600 wounded people and around 2,000 displaced Palestinians remain stranded in hospital.
A similar standoff has occurred in recent days at Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, where over 250 patients and medical staff are stranded following the evacuation of 31 premature babies.
Israel has presented evidence of a militant presence in Shifa in recent days. However, their claim that Hamas had a large command center below the facility has yet to be substantiated. Hamas and hospital staff deny these claims.
RISING NUMBERS
More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing. Their counts do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants.
The ministry bases its count on information collected by its counterpart in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which has been unable to fully update casualty figures for more than ten days due to the collapse of services and communications in the north.
The October 7 attack killed about 1,200 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians. According to the military, 68 Israeli soldiers were killed during ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
TALKS ABOUT HOSTAGES
Israel, the USA and Qatar, which is mediating with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks about a hostage release that would be linked to a temporary ceasefire and the entry of further aid supplies.
Izzat Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said on Tuesday that an agreement could be reached “in the coming hours” under which Hamas would release prisoners and Israel would release Palestinian prisoners. Hamas’ exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh also said they were close to an agreement.
The Israeli war cabinet met with representatives of the hostages’ families on Monday evening. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families that the government considered the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas to be equally important, according to a relative who was present.
Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi is trapped in Gaza, said it was “incredibly disappointing” since Israel has said it could take months to dismantle the militant group.
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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.
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Complete AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.