As the conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militants intensifies, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, has become a focal point of the crisis.
Despite thousands fleeing the hospital due to heavy fighting, hundreds of patients and displaced individuals remain trapped inside, according to Palestinian health officials.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden emphasised the need to protect hospitals in the war-torn Gaza Strip, and urged for less aggressive measures by Israeli forces, even as tanks rolled up to the gates of the Hamas-ruled territory’s main hospital.
Hamas has offered to release up to 70 women and children in exchange for a five-day ceasefire with Israel. The proposed truce would require a complete cessation of hostilities and allow for aid distribution throughout Gaza, the militant group’s Al-Qassam Brigades said in a post on its Telegram channel.
“We told the (Qatari) mediators that in a five-day truce, we can release 50 of them and the number could reach 70 due to the difficulty that the captives are held by different factions,” said al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida said, saying Israel had asked for 100 to be freed.
US President Joe Biden urged Israel on Monday to protect Gaza’s main hospital as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas raged around the complex.
“My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals and we remain in contact with the Israelis,” Biden stated during a White House briefing. He also said that negotiations involving Qatar are ongoing to facilitate a pause in hostilities for prisoner releases.
Health officials at Al-Shifa Hospital have warned of dozens of babies at risk due to the power outage. In the past three days, 32 patients, including three newborns, have died as a result of the siege and lack of essential services.
Al-Shifa Hospital has been without electricity and water for three days, rendering it non-operational, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has earlier said. The surrounding violence has included gunfire and bombings.
The Israeli military has presented evidence suggesting that Hamas used the basement of a Gaza City hospital to store arms and potentially detain hostages. IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari disclosed findings of weapons and rooms that appeared to be used for holding hostages underneath Rantisi children’s hospital.
“Underneath the hospital, in the basement, we found a Hamas command and control center, suicide-bomb vests, grenades, AK-47 assault rifles, explosive devices, RPGs, and other weapons, computers, money, etc,” Hagari said, according to the Times of Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that Hamas had lost control in the Gaza Strip as IDF forces aimed to take over Gaza City, reported the Times of Israel. Gallant claimed that Hamas fighters were fleeing and civilians were looting former Hamas bases.
The IDF said it had killed a number of Hamas commanders in airstrikes in the Strip over the past day. Among the senior officers was Yakub Ashur, the commander of Hamas’s anti-tank guided missile array in the terror group’s Khan Younis Brigade.