According to data from the Israeli army, 150,000 people moved south in the last three days – contrary to Hamas orders. According to eyewitness accounts, Israeli tanks rolled through the central streets of Gaza City. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, they are about 20 meters from Al-Kuds Hospital. Meanwhile, Hamas’ Qassam Brigades boasted of supposed successes against the Israeli army. More than 160 Israeli “military targets” were totally or partially destroyed, including 25 vehicles in the last 48 hours.
Netanyahu said everyone from Hamas leader Jihia al-Sinwar “to the last terrorist” was doomed to die. The army has killed thousands of terrorists, including “commanders who led the terrible massacre of October 7th”. There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages, Netanyahu reiterated. As for diplomatic efforts to secure their release, he said families will be informed as soon as there is something concrete. Until then, it’s best to keep quiet.
Hospitals in Gaza, according to the OCHA database and OpenStreetMap entries, use touchscreen or blue buttons (right) to zoom
Fights around the hospital
Meanwhile, fighting continued unabated throughout the weekend. On Saturday, attention turned to the situation around Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The Israeli military announced it would help evacuate the neonatal unit from the hospital building on Sunday. Hospital officials asked that the babies be evacuated to a safer hospital, Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday night. “We will provide the necessary support.”
debate
Middle East: How to break the spiral of violence?
Al-Shifa Hospital is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian information, it had to stop working on Saturday because the fuel for the electricity generators ran out. “As a result, a newborn died in the incubator containing 45 babies,” Ashraf al-Kidra, spokesman for the Hamas-controlled health authority in the Gaza Strip, told Portal. Other children are at risk of death.
Israel locates Hamas command center under hospital
Israel accuses Hamas of installing a command center under the hospital. According to the Ministry of Health, controlled by the terrorist organization, one person died and several were injured in the nighttime bombing in the intensive care unit. Hamas had already reported 13 deaths in the bombing of the clinic on Friday.
The army denied it: they were not firing at the hospital, but there were skirmishes with Hamas fighters in the area, an army official said. People could still leave the hospital safely, said Col. Moshe Tetro of COGAT, a unit of the Israeli Defense Ministry that works with Palestinians on civil matters. The eastern side of the site is open to anyone wishing to find safety.
An army spokesman in Tel Aviv made similar comments. “There is no shooting or siege at the hospital,” he said. Israeli troops supported anyone who wanted to leave the hospital safely. According to Israeli intelligence services, Hamas, which governs the coastal area, is using Shifa Hospital as a command and control center. This information cannot currently be independently verified.
Doctors Without Borders talks about “catastrophic” situation
The humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Saturday on the online service Twitter (X) that “attacks on Al-Shifa hospital have increased dramatically in recent hours.” She spoke of a “catastrophic” situation at the facility. A few hours later, the organization renewed its call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. “We are being killed here, please do something,” wrote an MSF nurse in the basement of Shifa Hospital on Saturday. MSF teams and hundreds of patients are still at the clinic.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are no longer functioning. “The health system is devastated – and yet life-saving care continues to be provided,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. There was hope at least for foreigners in the Gaza Strip. The border crossing at the Rafah crossing into Egypt was supposed to open again for them on Sunday, the Gaza border authority announced.
Response to the unprecedented terrorist attack in early October
With its heavy attacks in the densely populated Gaza Strip, the Israeli army is responding to the unprecedented brutal attack on Israel carried out by the radical Islamic group Hamas. Hundreds of Islamists entered Israel on October 7 and committed atrocities, mainly against civilians, including many children.
According to updated Israeli data, 1,200 people were killed in Israel and more than 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip. According to information from Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, more than 11,000 people, including 4,500 children, have been killed so far in Israel’s military operation to destroy the terrorist organization.