Israel says ready to evacuate babies from Gaza hospitals as fighting continues

New Delhi,Nov 12 : Fierce fighting continued near hospitals in Gaza, including the besieged region’s largest healthcare facility, Al-Shifa, as the Israeli military intensified its operations against the Palestinian group Hamas. Apprehensive of a direct attack on the hospital, thousands of patients and displaced individuals seeking refuge there fled to the south.

According to Palestinian authorities, two newborns died, and dozens more were at risk due to fuel shortages amid the intense fighting in the area.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military announced that it is ready to evacuate infants from the Al-Shifa hospital. An army spokesperson confirmed that troops would aid in the evacuation process on Sunday. According to Palestinian authorities, two newborns perished, and dozens more were at risk due to fuel shortages amidst the intense fighting in the area.

Despite mounting international appeals for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel’s campaign to subdue Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants would continue with “full force.” A ceasefire would only be feasible if all 239 hostages held in Gaza are released, Netanyahu stated in a televised address.

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At least two babies died, and dozens of patients, some critical, were at risk as fuel ran out at Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, according to Palestinian officials. Israel’s army surrounded major hospitals in Gaza, with intense fighting reported nearby.

The army clarified that they are not targeting hospitals and expressed readiness to evacuate babies. An Israeli army spokesperson stated, “Shifa hospital staff has requested assistance in relocating babies from the paediatric department to a safer hospital. We will provide the necessary support.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again rejected the growing international calls for a cease-fire as the war entered its sixth week. He said that Israel’s battle to crush Gaza’s Hamas will continue with “full force” and added that a cease-fire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released. In a televised address, Netanyahu also said Gaza would be demilitarised after the war and Israel would retain security control there.

“The war against Hamas-ISIS is advancing at full force and it has one goal – victory. There is no substitute for victory. We will eliminate Hamas and bring back our hostages. IDF forces have completed the encirclement of the city of Gaza. My directive and that of the Cabinet is clear: There will be no ceasefire without the return of our hostages,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that it has lost communication with its contacts in Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. The UN agency expressed “grave concerns” for the safety of everyone trapped there by the fighting while calling for an immediate ceasefire.

WHO said it has “grave concerns for the safety of the health workers, hundreds of sick and injured patients, including babies on life support and displaced people who remain inside the hospital”.

An extraordinary Islamic-Arab summit convened in Riyadh on Saturday called for an immediate end to Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries rejected Israel’s justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defence and also urged the International Criminal Court to investigate “war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing” in the Palestinian territories.

The summit was attended by dozens of leaders, including Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amog others.

Israel has said that Hamas has lost control of northern Gaza, which is under intense attack by the Israeli Defence Forces. Office of Prime Minister of Israel said, “Hamas has, in effect, lost control of the northern Gaza Strip. It has no place to hide there. From Sinwar to the last terrorist: all of Hamas are dead men.”

Tel Avil also announced that their troops are attacking Hamas “above ground and underground. We will continue at full force, at full strength, until victory.”

Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said that they had completely or partially destroyed more than 160 Israeli military targets in Gaza, including more than 25 vehicles in the past 48 hours.

“The confrontation is unequal, but it frightens and terrifies the most powerful force in the region,” the spokesperson of the brigade, Abu Ubaida, said.

The Iran-backed powerful militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah, said that their fighters had used new types of weapons and struck new targets in Israel in recent days and pledged that the front in the south against its sworn enemy would “remain active”. The group’s head Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday there had been “an upgrade” in operations along its front with Israel.

“There has been a quantitative improvement in the number of operations, the size and the number of targets, as well as an increase in the type of weapons,” he said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned the Shiite group not to escalate fighting along the border.

The Gaza border authority has announced the reopening of the Rafah land crossing into Egypt on Sunday. This will enable injured Palestinians, foreign passport holders, and their dependents to leave the war-torn strip. Evacuations were temporarily halted on Friday, primarily due to challenges in transporting medical evacuees from northern Gaza.

The Rafah border, connecting Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, is the entry point not controlled by Israel, which is crucial for aid trucks and evacuees, numbering in the thousands.

Tel Aviv saw another round of massive protest on Saturday as thousands of people rallied demanding the release of Israelis and foreigners being held captive in Gaza by Hamas. The protesters, including friends and family members of the captives, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “bring the hostages back now”.

 “Mr Prime Minister, cabinet members, do not talk to me about conquering, do not talk to me about flattening [Gaza]. Do not talk at all. Just take action â€æ bring them home now,” the father of a hostage told an Israeli newspaper.

At least 240 Israelis are under Hamas’ custody in Gaza.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, the Palestinian death toll in the besieged strip has crossed 11,000. As per the officials, about 40 per cent of them are children. More than 190 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank as well.

Meanwhile, Israel has earlier revised their death toll in the October 7 attack to 1,200 from the earlier estimate of 1,400.

-PTI