Gaza officials accuse Israel of attacking hospital
· RTE.ieGaza health officials have said Israeli forces surrounded and shelled the Indonesian Hospital in the enclave's northern town of Beit Lahia at dawn, while the military reported troops were operating near the facility.
"Israeli tanks have completely surrounded the hospital, cut off electricity and shelled the hospital, targeting the second and third floors with artillery," the facility's director, Marwan Sultan, said.
"There are serious risks to medical staff and patients," he added.
In a statement, Gaza's health ministry also said Israel had targeted the upper floors, adding there were "more than 40 patients and wounded in addition to the medical staff" present.
"Heavy gunfire" towards the hospital and its courtyard had sparked a "state of great panic" among patients and staff, it added.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said its troops were operating near the Indonesian Hospital.
"The troops operating in the area have been trained for the operational activity and briefed on the importance of mitigating harm to civilians and medical infrastructure," the military said in a statement to AFP.
"It is emphasised that the hospital continues to operate without disruption and in full capacity, and there was no intentional fire directed at it," it added.
Israel launched a new offensive in northern Gaza earlier this month, saying it was targeting Hamas fighters who were regrouping there.
The UN humanitarian affairs agency said it would continue "to sound the alarm about the increasingly dire and dangerous situation that civilians in northern Gaza are facing".
"Families there are trying to survive in atrocious conditions, under heavy bombardment," it said.
Indonesian Hospital was also damaged during Israeli shelling in October, residents told AFP at the time.
Israel has come under strong international criticism for targeting hospitals in Gaza, which it has repeatedly accused of being used by Hamas militants for military purposes.
Gaza's civil defence agency said more than 400 Palestinians have been killed in the north of Gaza over the past two weeks during an the ongoing Israeli military assault.
"We have recovered more than 400 martyrs from the various targeted areas in the northern Gaza Strip, including Jabalia and its camp, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, since the start of the military operation by the occupation army" on 6 October, Gaza civil defence agency spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, said.
"There are dozens of bodies scattered in the streets of Jabalia due to continuous shelling."
When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military press department said it was "checking" the reports.
Mr Bassal said the death toll from the Israeli operation up to yesterday was 386.
"In addition to that we had 33 martyrs from a massacre in Jabalia. So, the total is now more than 400 martyrs in northern Gaza," he said, referring to an Israeli air strike on Jabalia refugee camp overnight.
The dead included women, children and the elderly, he said.
"They were all transferred to the northern Gaza Strip hospitals of Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and Indonesian," Mr Bassal said.
"There are a number of pleas from families being bombed inside Jabalia camp... but it is difficult for our teams to reach the bombed sites," he added.
In several areas, communication and internet networks have been cut off, making it difficult for rescue teams to reach those in need of help.
"This affects the ability of citizens to contact our teams and other medical services," Mr Bassal added.
The Israeli military launched an intense assault on Jabalia on 6 October, which it later expanded to other areas of north Gaza.
So far, it has claimed "dozens of terrorists" have been killed in the operation, which aid agencies have warned was leading to a fresh humanitarian crisis in the territory.
"In the Jabalia area, IDF troops eliminated several terrorists in close-quarters encounters and IAF (air force) strikes," the military said in a statement
The Israeli military has defended the campaign in northern Gaza, saying its forces were targeting "terrorists embedded inside civilian areas", and accusing Hamas of preventing residents from fleeing.
Residents of Jabalia said Israeli tanks had reached the heart of the camp after pushing through suburbs and residential districts.
They said the Israeli army was destroying dozens of houses daily, from the air and the ground, and by placing bombs in buildings then detonating them remotely.
The Israeli military said its forces, which have been operating in Jabalia for the past two weeks, killed dozens of militants in close-quarters combat on Thursday, carried out aerial strikes, and dismantled military infrastructure.
Separately, at least other 11 people were killed in Israeli strike on a home in central Gaza's Al Maghazi refugee camp, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said, adding that there are still missing people under the rubble.
On Thursday, Israel said it had killed the country's number one enemy, Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, whom it blamed for ordering the 7 October attack on Israel - the deadliest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli military says its operation in Jabalia is intended to stop Hamas fighters regrouping for more attacks.
Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated the far northern Gazan towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya from Gaza City, blocking movement except for those families heeding evacuation orders and leaving the three towns.
They said communications and internet services had been cut, disrupting rescue operations.
Gaza authorities accuse Israeli forces of attacking hospital
Health authorities in Gaza said Israeli forces surrounded and shelled the Indonesian Hospital in the territory's northern town of Beit Lahia at dawn.
"Israeli tanks have completely surrounded the hospital, cut off electricity and shelled the hospital, targeting the second and third floors with artillery," said the facility's director, Marwan Sultan.
"There are serious risks to medical staff and patients."
In a statement, Gaza's health ministry also said Israel had targeted the upper floors, adding there were "more than 40 patients and wounded in addition to the medical staff" present.
"Heavy gunfire" towards the hospital and its courtyard had sparked a "state of great panic" among patients and staff, it added.
Appeal for immediate hospital supplies
Health officials appealed for fuel, medical supplies and food to be sent immediately to three northern Gaza hospitals overwhelmed by the number of patients and injuries.
At the Kamal Adwan Hospital, medics said they had to replace children in intensive care with more critical cases of adults badly wounded by Israeli airstrikes on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Jabalia on Thursday.
Israel said it had targeted militants holed up in the complex.
Kamal Adwan's director, Hussam Abu Safiya, said in a video sent to media that the children had been moved to another division inside the facility, where they were being cared for. He said medical staff were exhausted and hospital supplies, including food, were badly depleted.
Israel said it sent about 30 truckloads of aid into northern Gaza, including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment. "We're fighting Hamas, we're not fighting the people of Gaza," military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing.
Hamas and health officials say the aid has not been reaching the worst affected areas, including the three isolated towns.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, said on X that the attack on the school was the third on a UNRWA facility this week, and that the agency had lost 231 team members in the past year of fighting.
Northern Gaza, which had been home to well over half the territory's 2.3 million people, was bombed to rubble in the first phase of Israel's assault a year ago.
Israel began its military campaign after the 7 October attacks on southern Israel by Hamas-led fighters, who killed 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive so far, according to Gaza's health authorities.