The Israeli military has pounded the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of people mainly in the north and again attacking the last partially functioning hospital in the area.
At least 33 people were killed in air raids across the enclave, including 20 in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, four in Gaza City, six in central areas and three in southern Khan Younis, Al Jazeera Arabic sources and the Wafa news agency reported late on Monday.
Eid Sabbah, the director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the Palestinian territory, said Israeli jets and quad-copter drones hit the children’s ward of the facility, injuring medics and patients.
The upper floors were damaged and some of the children and newborn babies were injured. Journalists, nurses and other medical staff were also injured. This was the second day that the hospital came under Israeli fire.
A week back, Israeli forces violently raided Kamal Adwan Hospital and detained dozens of people, including nearly all of its medical staff. That left the facility with four doctors and 50 volunteers, medical workers and nurses.
The towns of Beit Lahiya, where the hospital is located, Jabalia and Beit Hanoon have been witnessing waves of attacks in the past month as the Israeli military has intensified its air and ground operations in the north.
Despite several Israeli-enforced displacement orders, tens of thousands of civilians are still in the north. Many of them fear leaving the area because of the risk of being hit by Israeli snipers, the danger of being attacked in Israeli-designated so-called “safe zones” that Israel repeatedly hits or to never be allowed to return to their homes.
The Israeli military claims its aim is to avoid the regrouping of Hamas fighters. But on top of escalating its attacks, it has laid siege to several areas in the north, further choking the already scarce aid allowed to enter.
In October, Israel allowed a daily average of 30 humanitarian trucks to enter Gaza, 6 percent of the supplies allowed into the Strip before the war, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
Israel officially notified the UN that it was ending its agreement with UNRWA, alleging that some of its staff workers were Hamas fighters who took part in the October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel. The agency said the Israeli decision will lead to the “collapse” of aid in Gaza. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said UN lawyers are reviewing the move.
In mid-October, the United States issued a rare warning telling Israel to take specific steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days or risk seeing military aid restricted.
As of Monday, the results were not “good enough”, US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“They certainly do not have a pass … They have failed to implement all the things that we recommended,” Miller added, but declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the requests.
The US is Israel’s main supplier of weapons. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by telephone urging him to “substantially increase and sustain humanitarian aid – including food, medicine, and other essential supplies – to civilians across all of Gaza”.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed at least 43,374 Palestinians and wounded 102,261 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.