Photo: Reuters
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian medics said, with nearly half of the deaths in northern areas where the army has waged a month-long campaign it says is aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping.
Palestinians said the new aerial and ground offensives and forced evacuations were "ethnic cleansing" aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp of their population to create buffer zones. Israel denies this, saying it is fighting Hamas militants who launch attacks from there.
Medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed in separate attacks on houses in Beit Lahiya town and Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's eight historic camps and the focus of the army's new offensive.
The rest were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and in southern areas, including one in Khan Younis, which health officials said had killed eight people, including four children.
Later on Sunday, health officials at the Kamal Adwan Hospital near Beit Lahiya said the facility came under Israeli tank fire and that one child hospitalized at the hospital was critically wounded.
Hussam Abu Safiya, the hospital's director said the incident took place after a delegation from the World Health Organization visited the facility and evacuated some patients.
He said while evacuating the wounded was important, it was more important to dispatch specialized medical teams to north Gaza hospitals that have become overwhelmed by the number of casualties.
Abu Safiya said the tank fire hit the water supplies, the courtyard, and the neonatal intensive care unit.
COGAT, the Israeli army's Palestinian civilian affairs agency, said the explosion resulted from an explosive device planted by Palestinian militants and not an Israeli attack.
"The terrorist organizations continue to exploit civilian infrastructure, medical facilities, and international aid organizations for their terror activities," a COGAT statement said late on Sunday.
Hamas has repeatedly denied using civilian facilities such as hospitals, schools, and mosques, for military purposes.
On Saturday, the Israeli military sent a new army division to Jabalia to join two other operating battalions, a statement said. It said hundreds of Palestinian militants have been killed in the "battles" since the raid began on Oct. 5.
Meanwhile, COGAT said it facilitated the launch of the second round of a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza on Saturday and that 58,604 children have received a dose.
The Gaza health ministry said Israel's military offensive in northern Gaza was stopping them from vaccinating thousands of children in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun.
It said one clinic had come under Israeli fire while parents brought their children for the anti-polio dose on Saturday and that four children had been injured.
'CEASEFIRE!'
The head of the World Health Organization said in a statement the clinic incident took place despite a humanitarian pause agreed upon by the two warring parties, Israel and Hamas, to allow the vaccination campaign.
"A @WHO team was at the site just before. This attack, during a humanitarian pause, jeopardises the sanctity of health protection for children and may deter parents from bringing their children for vaccination," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Saturday.
"These vital humanitarian-area-specific pauses must be absolutely respected. Ceasefire!" he said.
The Israeli military, which had no immediate comment on Tedros' remarks, said it was checking the report about the clinic.
A larger ceasefire that would end the war and see the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held captive in Gaza, as well as Palestinians jailed by Israel, remains remote due to disagreements between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas wants an agreement to end the war permanently, refusing recent offers for temporary truces, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says war can only end when Hamas is eradicated.
The war erupted after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's retaliatory offensives have killed more than 43,300 Palestinians and reduced most of Gaza to rubble.
醫護人員稱以色列空襲加薩至少31人死亡
巴勒斯坦醫務人員表示，以色列週日的空襲在加薩走廊造成至少31 人死亡，其中近一半死亡人數發生在北部地區，以色列軍隊在該地區發動了為期一個月的行動，據稱其目的是阻止哈馬斯重新集結。
巴勒斯坦人表示，新的空中和地面進攻以及強制疏散是“種族清洗”，旨在清空加薩北部兩個城鎮和一個難民營的人口，以建立緩衝區。 以色列否認這一點，稱正在與從那裡發動攻擊的哈馬斯武裝分子作戰。
醫務人員表示，至少有13 名巴勒斯坦人在拜特拉希亞鎮和賈巴利亞的房屋遭到襲擊中喪生，賈巴利亞是該飛地八個歷史悠久的營地中最大的一個，也是軍隊新攻勢的重點。
其餘人在以色列對加薩城和南部地區的單獨空襲中喪生，其中包括汗尤尼斯的一名空襲，衛生官員稱，這次空襲已造成八人死亡，其中包括四名兒童。
週日晚些時候，拜特拉希亞附近的卡邁勒阿德萬醫院的衛生官員表示，該設施遭到以色列坦克的砲火襲擊，一名在醫院住院的兒童受重傷。
該醫院院長胡薩姆·阿布·薩菲亞 (Hussam Abu Safiya) 表示，這起事件是在世界衛生組織代表團訪問該設施並疏散一些患者後發生的。
他說，雖然疏散傷者很重要，但更重要的是向加薩北部的醫院派遣專業醫療團隊，這些醫院因傷亡人數而不堪重負。
阿布薩菲亞說，水箱起火襲擊了供水系統、庭院和新生兒加護病房。
以色列軍隊的巴勒斯坦民政機構COGAT表示，爆炸是由巴勒斯坦武裝分子安置的爆炸裝置造成的，而不是以色列的攻擊。
「恐怖組織繼續利用民用基礎設施、醫療設施和國際援助組織進行恐怖活動，」COGAT 週日晚間發表聲明稱。
哈馬斯一再否認將醫院、學校和清真寺等民用設施用於軍事目的。
一份聲明稱，週六，以色列軍方向賈巴利亞派遣了一個新的陸軍師，與另外兩個作戰營會合。 據稱，自10月5日襲擊開始以來，數百名巴勒斯坦武裝分子已在「戰鬥」中喪生。
同時，COGAT 表示，它協助週六在加薩北部啟動了第二輪脊髓灰質炎疫苗接種活動，已有 58,604 名兒童接種了疫苗。
加薩衛生部表示，以色列在加薩北部的軍事攻勢導致他們無法為賈巴利亞、拜特拉希亞和拜特哈農的數千名兒童接種疫苗。
報道稱，週六，當父母帶著孩子服用抗小兒麻痺疫苗時，一家診所遭到以色列炮火襲擊，四名兒童受傷。
“停火！”
世界衛生組織負責人在聲明中表示，儘管以色列和哈馬斯兩個交戰方同意暫停人道疫苗接種活動，但診所事件還是發生了。
「@WHO 團隊之前就在現場。這次襲擊發生在人道主義暫停期間，危及兒童健康保護的神聖性，並可能阻止家長帶孩子接種疫苗，」總幹事譚德塞在帖子中說星期六 X 日。
“必須絕對尊重這些重要的人道主義領域特定的暫停。停火！” 他說。
以色列軍方沒有立即對譚德塞的言論發表評論，但表示正在檢查有關該診所的報告。
由於哈馬斯和以色列之間的分歧，旨在結束戰爭、釋放被扣押在加薩的以色列和外國人質以及被以色列監禁的巴勒斯坦人的更大規模停火仍然遙不可及。
哈馬斯希望達成永久結束戰爭的協議，拒絕最近提出的臨時休戰提議，而以色列總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡則表示，只有消滅哈馬斯，戰爭才能結束。
根據以色列的統計，哈馬斯領導的武裝分子於 2023 年 10 月 7 日襲擊以色列，造成約 1,200 人死亡，並將 251 名人質劫持回加沙，隨後戰爭爆發。
以色列的報復性攻勢已造成 43,300 多名巴勒斯坦人死亡，並將加薩大部分地區夷為廢墟。
Source: Reuters
Comments