UNITED STATES NEWS

Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands

Nov 20, 2023, 12:44 AM | Updated: 5:12 pm

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces pressed their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants around a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced people have been sheltering for weeks, and where despite the fighting health officials managed to evacuate some of the wounded.

A medical worker inside the facility and the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, killing 12 people. Both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital, saying its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre (1.4 hectare) compound.

The Israeli offensive came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago.

Gaza’s hospitals play a prominent role in the battle of narratives over the war’s brutal toll on Palestinian civilians, thousands of whom have been killed or buried in rubble since the conflict was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. In the wake of the assault, Israeli leaders vowed to eradicate Hamas, destroy its ability to rule Gaza and uproot its militant infrastructure.

Israel says Hamas uses civilians as human shields and that the militants operated a major command hub inside and under Shifa, a claim hospital officials and Hamas deny. Critics say Israel’s siege and relentless bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians.

Israeli troops were battling Hamas fighters in the Jabaliya refugee camp, a densely built-up district on Gaza City’s northeastern side that has been heavily hit by bombardment for weeks. The military said that after moving through the center of the city to Shifa, its forces were now working to uproot Hamas fighters from eastern areas.

Dozens of dead and wounded in airstrikes and shelling overnight flowed into Indonesian Hospital, near Jabaliya, said Marwan Abdallah, the medical worker there. He said Israeli tanks were operating less than 200 meters (yards) away and Israeli snipers could be seen on the roofs of nearby buildings. As he spoke on the phone, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.

Hamas’ Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, said roughly 200 wounded patients and their companions were evacuated from the hospital to southern Gaza in a rescue effort coordinated by the U.N. and the International Committee for the Red Cross. Many of the evacuees were being treated at al-Nasser hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis, he said.

Between 400 and 500 wounded remain at Indonesia Hospital, Ashraf told Al-Jazeera. Some 2,000 displaced Palestinians also are sheltering there.

In a separate development that could relieve some of the pressure on Gaza’s collapsing health system, dozens of trucks entered from Egypt on Monday with equipment from Jordan to set up a field hospital. Jordan’s state-run media said the hospital in Khan Younis would be up and running within 48 hours.

CLAIMS ABOUT SHIFA

More than 250 patients with severely infected wounds and other urgent conditions remain in Shifa. The complex can no longer provide most of the wounded there treatment after it ran out of water, medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators.

Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants outside its gates for days before entering the facility on Wednesday.

Israel’s army said it has evidence that Hamas maintained a sprawling command post inside and under the hospital’s 20-acre (8-hectare) complex, which includes several buildings.

On Sunday, the military released a video showing what it said was a tunnel discovered at the hospital, 55 meters (60 yards) long and about 10 meters (33 feet) below ground. It said the tunnel ended at a blast-proof door with a hole in it for gunmen to fire out of. Troops have not opened the door yet, it said.

Israeli forces also released security camera video showing what they said were two foreign hostages, one Thai and one Nepalese, who were captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack and taken to the hospital. Hamas said its fighters brought them in for medical care.

The army also said an investigation had determined that Israeli army Cpl. Noa Marciano, another captive whose body was recovered in Gaza, had been wounded in an Israeli strike on Nov. 9 that killed her captor, but was then killed by a Hamas militant in Shifa.

The military has previously released images of several guns it said were found inside an MRI lab and said that the bodies of two hostages were found near the complex.

The Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the military’s findings.

THREE IN FOUR PEOPLE DISPLACED

Israel has repeatedly ordered Palestinians to leave northern Gaza and seek refuge in the south, which has also been under aerial bombardment. Some 1.7 million people, nearly three quarters of Gaza’s population, have been displaced, with 900,000 packing into crowded U.N.-run shelters, according to the U.N.

Strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps Monday killed at least 40 people, according to hospital officials, and residents said dozens more were buried in the rubble. Bundled against a chilly wind from Gaza’s approaching winter, a line of men prayed over more than a dozen bodies on the grounds of the nearby morgue in Deir al-Balah before loading them onto a truck.

More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing. Their counts do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants.

Violence also has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers are on the rise and where more than 200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, mostly in gunbattles triggered by Israeli military raids.

About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 66 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations.

Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa.

Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating a hostage release for weeks. Israel’s three-member war Cabinet met with representatives of the hostages’ families Monday evening, and a relative of a hostage said the officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told families the government will not prioritize the hostages’ release to defeating Hamas.

“What we’ve heard is that taking down Hamas and bringing the hostages are … equally important,” said Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi is in captivity in Gaza. “This is incredibly disappointing because … we know that taking down Hamas, we keep hearing from them (it) is going to take months or years and it’s going to take a long time.”

Goren said the war cabinet did not share details about any possible deal to release the hostages.

___

Magdy and Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Najib Jobain in Khan Younis, Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel and Melanie Lidman and Nebi Qena in Jerusalem contributed.

___

Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

United States News

Associated Press

3 Chilean nationals accused of burglarizing high-end Michigan homes

Three Chilean nationals have been arrested in connection with a series of burglaries of mansions and other high-end homes in suburban Detroit and across Michigan. The charges were announced Monday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel who said the three are suspected in eight break-ins after they arrived in the Detroit area on a Feb. […]

56 minutes ago

Associated Press

Firefighters search for anyone trapped after corner of six-story Bronx apartment building collapses

NEW YORK (AP) — A six-story corner of a Bronx apartment building collapsed Monday afternoon, leaving apartments exposed like a stack of shelves, according to authorities and bystander and news video. There were no reports of injuries by early evening, but firefighters were continuing to search. A worker at a nearby deli, Julian Rodriguez, said […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

After losing Houston mayor’s race, US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to seek reelection to Congress

HOUSTON (AP) — Two days after losing her bid to be Houston’s next mayor, longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee announced on Monday she will seek a 16th term in Congress in 2024. Jackson Lee first took office in 1995. Her district includes downtown Houston and some of the city’s historically Black neighborhoods, including 3rd […]

2 hours ago

A Bible rests on the lawn of Community Baptist Church amongst storm debris Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, i...

Associated Press

Two Nashville churches, wrecked by tornados years apart, lean on each other in storms’ wake

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — After a March 2020 tornado destroyed the Rev. Jacques Boyd’s Nashville church, his friend, the Rev. Vincent Johnson, lent him space to worship in. Nearly four years later, Boyd has offered to return the favor for the exact same reason. “Whatever we have is available to them,” said Boyd, who leads […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

The US is restricting visas for nearly 300 Guatemalan lawmakers, others for ‘undermining democracy’

MIAMI (AP) — The Biden administration announced on Monday that it would impose visa restrictions on nearly 300 Guatemalan lawmakers, private sector leaders and their families it accuses of “undermining democracy and the rule of law.” Guatemala faces mounting criticism by world leaders and watchdogs accusing it of attempts to block progressive president-elect Bernardo Arévalo […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Texas woman who sought court permission for abortion leaves state for the procedure, attorneys say

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A pregnant Texas woman who sought court permission for an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrict bans in the U.S. has left the state to obtain the procedure, her attorneys said Monday. The announced came as Kate Cox, 31, was awaiting a ruling from the Texas […]

4 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Follow @KTAR923...

West Hunsaker at Morris Hall supports Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona

KTAR's Community Spotlight this month focuses on Morris Hall and its commitment to supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University: innovating Arizona health care education

Midwestern University’s Glendale Campus near Loop 101 and 59th Avenue is an established leader in health care education and one of Arizona’s largest and most valuable health care resources.

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands