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Qatar Tribune
18-05-2025
- Health
- Qatar Tribune
Israel begins Gaza ground operation, kills 140 in relentless bombardment
Agencies tel aviv/Gaza The Israeli military has announced the start of extensive new ground operations throughout northern and southern Gaza, on a day it killed at least 140 people in waves of relentless strikes across the Palestinian enclave. At least 36 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when Israeli warplanes bombed a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Verified videos from the scene showed many bodies, including some on fire. The dead and wounded were taken to a nearby field hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex. At least 135 people were killed on Sunday morning, including 42 in the heavily bombed northern parts of Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. Five journalists were also among the victims when their homes were bombed. At least 464 Palestinians have been killed in the past week as the Israeli military prepared to significantly intensify its ground invasion of the Palestinian territory despite international criticism. At least 53,339 Palestinians have been killed and 121,034 wounded since the start of the war in October 2023, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Israeli army on Sunday confirmed the start of Operation Gideon's Chariots, which will involve regular and reserve soldiers of the Southern Command leading the ground invasion of both northern and southern Gaza, backed by the air force. It reported attacking more than 670 places in Gaza over the past week and claimed all were 'Hamas targets' located both above and beneath the ground. Israel has been accused of disproportionately targeting civilians in Gaza, including displaced families. Among the targets have been three major hospitals, adding to the systematic targeting of healthcare facilities across the enclave that has now put three hospitals out of commission this week alone. The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza was rendered nonoperational on Sunday after the Israeli army laid siege to it beginning at dawn. Marwan al-Sultan, the director of the facility, which was the last functioning public hospital in the north, described the situation as 'catastrophic' and called on international organisations to press for medical teams' safety. Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera that the bombing of the Indonesian Hospital is severely impacting chances of survival for those in need of medical care. Thousands of sick and wounded people could die, he warned, adding that blood donations are urgently needed. Dr Muhammad Zaqout, the director general of hospitals in Gaza, condemned 'Israel's systematic measures against hospitals'. 'Israel deliberately kills wounded people by preventing them from reaching hospitals and directly targets patients, the wounded and medical staff inside hospitals,' he told Al Jazeera. He said al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza's Jabalia and European Gaza Hospital in southern Gaza have also been bombed, endangering patients and medical staff. Hamas said in a statement early on Sunday that the attacks on displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis marked a 'brutal crime' that was a flagrant violation of international laws and norms. 'By granting the terrorist occupation government political and military cover, the United States administration bears direct responsibility for this insane escalation in the targeting of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and the elderly,' the Palestinian group said, also condemning the 'ongoing persecution and killing' of media workers. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel's expanding operation in Gaza. 'I am alarmed by reported plans by Israel to expand ground operations and more,' he said on X on Saturday. On Saturday, both Israel and Hamas confirmed that more mediated talks were under way in Qatar.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Israeli strikes batter Gaza hospitals as brutal siege, bombing intensify
In its latest assault on Gaza's decimated healthcare system, Israel has once again targeted the partially operating Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, this time with drones, as its forces are also carrying out a ground offensive in the north and south of the bombarded territory. Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in the besieged enclave's north, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the latest strikes – which have been ongoing since Saturday – indicate that Israeli attacks on Gaza's hospitals are intensifying. 'The medical teams are really suffering, and we have a few numbers of medical teams and staff … and a lot of people are in need [of] more medical care,' Abu Salmiya said by phone from the hospital on Sunday. The Indonesian Hospital is one of the main medical facilities in the north, and now that it's largely out of service, this is severely impacting patients' chances for survival, he said. Thousands of sick and wounded people could die, he warned. Blood donations are urgently needed. This has been underscored by Gaza's Health Ministry, which confirmed that Israeli forces besieged the facility in Beit Lahiya, adding that 'a state of panic and confusion is prevailing'. The ministry later said that Israel had cut off the arrival of patients and staff, 'effectively forcing the hospital out of service'. With 'the shutdown of the Indonesian Hospital, all public hospitals in the North Gaza Governorate are now out of service', it said. Gaza's healthcare facilities have been targeted repeatedly throughout Israel's deadly assault that began 18 months ago. Other facilities in the north that have been bombed, burned, and besieged by the Israeli military since the start of the war include Kamal Adwan Hospital, al-Shifa Hospital, al-Ahli Hospital, and al-Awda Hospital. Dozens of other medical clinics, stations, and vehicles have also come under attack. The targeting of health facilities, medical personnel and patients is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention. Israel has also battered several hospitals in Gaza's central and southern areas, including Deir el-Balah's Al-Aqsa Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan this week, Israel struck two hospitals in Khan Younis. Nine missiles slammed into and around the courtyard of the European Gaza Hospital, killing at least 16 people, while an attack on the Nasser Medical Complex killed two people, including a wounded journalist. Incessant attacks on Gaza's healthcare sector have left it reeling, devastating its ability to function, while doctors say they are out of medicine to treat routine conditions. Hospitals have also been on the verge of total collapse amid a brutal and ongoing blockade, where Israel continues to bar the entry of much-needed medical supplies, fuel, and other humanitarian aid including food and clean water. The crisis in Gaza has reached one of its darkest periods, humanitarian officials warn, as famine also looms. Israeli air strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the last 72 hours. Strikes over the weekend have also put the European Hospital, the only remaining facility providing cancer treatments in Gaza, out of service. Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said dozens of Palestinians have been wounded, and doctors say 'they're facing numerous challenges in treating injuries because of a lack of medical supplies'. 'Israeli air strikes in Gaza are still escalating as drones and fighter jets hover in the sky,' Khoudary said. The death toll has reached the same level of intensity as the earliest days of the war, said Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, an independent group in London that tracks recent conflicts. She says preliminary data indicate the number of incidents where at least one person was killed or injured by Israeli fire hovered around 700 in April. It's a figure comparable only to October or December 2023 – one of the heaviest periods of bombardment. In the last 10 days of March, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates, an average of 100 children were killed or maimed by Israeli air strikes every day. Almost 3,000 of the estimated 53,000 killed by Israel since October 7, 2023, have lost their lives since Israel broke a fragile ceasefire on March 18, Gaza's Health Ministry said. Among those killed in recent days include a volunteer pharmacist with the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, who was killed with her family in a strike on Gaza City on May 4. A midwife from Al Awda Health and Community Association was also killed with her family in another strike on May 7. A journalist working for Qatar-based television network Al Araby TV, along with 11 members of his family, was also killed.
Middle East Eye
18-03-2025
- Health
- Middle East Eye
Al-Shifa Hospital chief says injured people dying in Gaza due to lack of resources
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital, said the hospital is unable to cope with the influx of casualties from Israel's latest air strikes due to a severe shortage of medical supplies. 'Every minute, a wounded person dies due to a lack of resources,' Abu Salmiya told Al Jazeera Arabic. He added that only four intensive care beds were available in Gaza City and northern Gaza, with the health system lacking essential supplies. Reaching the targeted areas to rescue victims from under the rubble remains 'extremely difficult,' he said. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has issued an urgent appeal for blood donations after the stocks at local blood banks were depleted.
Saudi Gazette
18-03-2025
- Health
- Saudi Gazette
Ceasefire shatters as Israel pounds Gaza with wave of deadly strikes
GAZA — At least 330 people have been killed by Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. 'A number of victims are still under the rubble, and efforts are underway to recover them,' it said. The Israeli military said it was carrying out "extensive" strikes after talks to extend the ceasefire failed — it's the biggest wave of strikes since 19 January, when the ceasefire began. More than 440 people have been wounded, some very seriously, as rescue workers search for victims believed to be under the rubble, the ministry said earlier. Israel's more than two-week-long blockade of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza has exacerbated suffering in the strip, Low said, adding that the new Israeli bombardment threatened to further restrict residents' access to vital fuel and water. 'We know that fuel is in short supply,' Low said. 'And so, it's possible that in the coming days we will lose telecommunications, that hospitals will collapse, there will be no clean drinking water available, and food distributions will come to a halt.'Gaza's hospitals are 'completely full' and struggling to treat wounded Palestinians flooding in following renewed Israeli strikes, the head of the enclave's biggest hospital said.'Our hospitals are unable to accommodate the increasing number of injured, as operating rooms are completely full, and the wounded are dying without finding a bed for treatment,' Muhammad Abu Salmiya, of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said in a post on said the attack had dealt a blow to 'an exhausted healthcare system suffering from a shortage of medications and a severe lack of medical equipment.'A doctor at another hospital previously told CNN she had personally pronounced between 15 to 20 people dead in scenes that were 'nothing close to anything I've experienced before' and that the majority of patients she had seen were is 'highly concerned' about the resumption of widespread and deadly Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, and called for a return to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.'China is highly concerned about the current Israel-Palestine situation,' Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told a regular press said Beijing 'hopes that all parties will earnestly promote the continued and effective implementation of the ceasefire agreement, avoid taking any actions that could lead to an escalation of the situation, and prevent a larger-scale humanitarian disaster.'Israel's return to war in Gaza will inevitably worsen the already dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, a leading humanitarian organization warned on Low, a communications adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said her colleagues in Gaza were woken up by 'intensive bombing' from Israeli attacks that continued until dawn.'People, including our staff, are, of course, in shock. They are very stressed out. They are very worried about what is to come,' Low told CNN's Rosemary Church from Jordan's capital half of the NRC's Palestinian staff had returned to northern Gaza to see their families and check on their homes since the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect two months ago, Low said.A statement from Israeli hostages' families accused the Israeli government of choosing to "give up" hostages in Gaza by launching new strikes."The greatest fear of the families, the kidnapped, and the citizens of Israel has come true," says a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum."The Israeli government chose to give up the hostages."The statement expresses shock and anger at what it calls the "deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones".The group has issued an "emergency call", saying they are heading to Jerusalem to protest, as they say the "hostages are in grave danger".It says Israel and Hamas "must return to the ceasefire" and calls on US President Donald Trump, who has pledged to end the war, to "continue to act as he has declared and acted so far".Israel has said 59 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with up to 24 believed to be alive. — Agencies
