Main Gaza hospital goes dark during intense fighting; Netanyahu says no ceasefire possible until all hostages released

Israel’s prime minister pushed again Saturday in opposition to calls from Western allies to do extra to guard Palestinian civilians, as troops encircled Gaza’s largest hospital the place medical doctors stated 5 sufferers died — together with a untimely child — after the final generator ran out of gas.

A cease-fire could be potential provided that all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are launched, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a televised tackle.

The Israeli chief additionally insisted that after the conflict, now getting into its sixth week, Gaza could be demilitarized and Israel would retain safety management there. Requested what he meant by safety management, Netanyahu stated Israeli forces should have the ability to enter Gaza freely to search out militants.

He additionally rejected the concept that the Palestinian Authority, which at the moment administers autonomous areas within the Israeli-occupied West Financial institution, would at some stage management Gaza. Each positions run counter to post-war eventualities floated by Israel’s closest ally, america. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stated the U.S. opposes an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and envisions a unified Palestinian authorities in each Gaza and the West Financial institution at some stage as a step towards Palestinian statehood.

For now, Netanyahu stated, “the conflict in opposition to (Hamas) is advancing with full pressure, and it has one purpose, to win. There isn’t any different to victory.”

Preventing intensifies round Gaza’s largest hospital

Strain was rising on Israel after frantic medical doctors at Gaza’s largest hospital stated the final generator had run out of gas, inflicting the dying of a untimely child, one other little one in an incubator and 4 different sufferers. 1000’s of war-wounded, medical workers and displaced civilians have been caught within the preventing.   

In latest days, preventing close to Shifa and different hospitals in northern Gaza has intensified and provides have run out. The Israeli navy has alleged, with out offering proof, that Hamas has established command posts in and beneath hospitals, utilizing civilians as human shields. Medical workers at Shifa have denied such claims and accused Israel of harming civilians with indiscriminate assaults.

“There isn’t any electrical energy. Medical units stopped. Sufferers, particularly these in intensive care, began to die,” stated Mohammed Abu Selmia, the director of Shifa, talking by telephone over the sound of gunfire and explosions.

Abu Selmia stated Israeli troops have been “taking pictures at anybody exterior or contained in the hospital,” and prevented motion between the buildings within the compound.

The declare that Israeli troops have been the only supply of fireplace couldn’t be verified independently.

Requested about experiences of troops firing into the Shifa courtyard, the Israeli navy would solely say that troops are engaged with preventing Hamas within the neighborhood and take all possible measures to forestall hurt to civilians. It stated troopers have encountered a whole bunch of Hamas fighters in underground amenities, faculties, mosques and clinics throughout preventing in Gaza.

At Shifa, 5 sufferers died after the generator shut down, together with a untimely child, stated Medhat Abbas, a spokesman for the Well being Ministry.

Abbas informed the satellite tv for pc tv channel Al Jazeera that there are nonetheless 1,500 sufferers at Shifa, together with 1,500 medical personnel and between 15,000 and 20,000 folks looking for shelter.

“The complicated now lacks meals, water and electrical energy,” he stated. “Intensive care models have stopped working.”

1000’s have fled Shifa and different hospitals which have come below assault, however physicians stated it is inconceivable for everybody to get out.

“We can not evacuate ourselves and (depart) these folks inside,” a Medical doctors With out Borders surgeon at Shifa, Mohammed Obeid, was quoted as saying by the group. “As a health care provider, I swear to assist the individuals who need assistance.”

Netanyahu stated the accountability for any hurt to civilians lies with Hamas, repeating long-standing allegations that the militant group makes use of civilians in Gaza as human shields. He stated that whereas Israel has urged civilians to depart fight zones, “Hamas is doing the whole lot it may possibly to forestall them from leaving.”

His assertion got here after French President Emmanuel Macron pushed for a cease-fire and urged different leaders to affix his name, telling the BBC there was “no justification” for Israel’s ongoing bombing.

Following Hamas’ lethal Oct. 7 assault on Israel, by which a minimum of 1,200 folks have been killed, Israel’s allies have defended the nation’s proper to guard itself. However now into the second month of conflict, there are rising variations in what number of really feel Israel ought to conduct its combat.

A whole bunch of People stay stranded in Gaza

A State Division spokesperson informed CBS Information Saturday that it was “in contact” with about 900 folks, together with 400 U.S. residents and their relations, are believed to nonetheless be stranded in Gaza.

“We be taught of recent people looking for help to depart almost each day,” the spokesperson stated. 

Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the State Division, stated Wednesday that greater than 400 U.S residents, lawful everlasting residents and different eligible people have been evacuated from Gaza via southern Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt because the conflict started.

1000’s of Gazans flee south

The U.S. has been pushing for short-term pauses that may enable for wider distribution of badly wanted help to civilians within the besieged territory the place situations are more and more dire. Nonetheless, Israel has to date solely agreed to transient each day durations throughout which civilians are capable of flee the world of floor fight in northern Gaza and head south on foot alongside the territory’s important north-south artery.

Since these evacuation home windows have been first introduced per week in the past, greater than 150,000 civilians have fled the north, based on U.N. screens. On Saturday, the navy introduced a brand new evacuation window, saying civilians may use the central highway and a coastal highway.

Israeli Protection Forces reported that about 50,000 folks evacuated from northern to southern Gaza on Saturday through humanitarian routes, and a complete of 150,000 to 200,000 have been evacuated over the previous few days through these routes. 

On the primary highway, a gentle stream of individuals may very well be seen fleeing southward, clutching youngsters and baggage of belongings, many on foot and a few on donkey-drawn carts. One man pushed two youngsters in a wheelbarrow.

Tens of 1000’s extra stay in northern Gaza, many sheltering at hospitals and overcrowded U.N. amenities.

Palestinian civilians and rights advocates have pushed again in opposition to Israel’s portrayal of the southern evacuation zones as “comparatively protected,” noting that Israeli bombardment has continued throughout Gaza, together with airstrikes within the south that Israel says goal Hamas leaders, however which have additionally killed girls and kids.

U.S., Israel at odds over post-war Gaza’s future

The U.S. and Israel even have diverging views on what a post-war Gaza ought to seem like. Netanyahu and navy leaders have stated this must be dictated solely by Israel’s safety wants, comparable to making certain no threats emerge from the territory. Israel has stated a key purpose of the conflict is to crush Hamas, a militant group that has dominated Gaza for 16 years.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, chatting with reporters Friday throughout a tour of Asia, laid out what he stated have been elementary rules for a post-war Gaza, a few of which appeared to run counter to Israel’s slim strategy.

Blinken stated these rules embrace “no forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no use of Gaza as a platform for launching terrorism or different assaults in opposition to Israel, no diminution within the territory of Gaza, and a dedication to Palestinian-led governance for Gaza and for the West Financial institution, and in a unified means.”

Saudi Arabia hosted Muslim and Arab leaders in Riyadh on Saturday with the purpose of devising their very own cohesive technique on Gaza. Initially meant to be two separate gatherings, the nation determined to merge them into one to expedite the method in response to the escalating violence, based on the Saudi Overseas Ministry.

Concern has grown in latest days as preventing via the dense neighborhoods of Gaza Metropolis has come nearer to hospitals, which Israel claims are being utilized by Hamas fighters.

1000’s of civilians had been sheltering within the Shifa compound in latest weeks, however many fled Friday after a number of close by strikes by which one individual was killed and several other have been wounded.

Gaza dying toll continues to climb

Greater than 11,070 Palestinians, two-thirds of them girls and minors, have been killed because the conflict started, based on the Well being Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 folks have been reported lacking and are considered presumably trapped or useless below the rubble.

The Hamas-run Inside Ministry stated six folks have been killed early Saturday in a strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp that hit a home. The camp is positioned within the southern evacuation zone.

At the least 1,200 folks have been killed in Israel, primarily within the preliminary Hamas assault, and 41 Israeli troopers have been killed in Gaza because the floor offensive started, Israeli officers say.

Practically 240 folks kidnapped by Hamas from Israel stay captive.

About 250,000 Israelis have been compelled to evacuate from communities close to Gaza and alongside the northern border with Lebanon, the place Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have traded fireplace repeatedly.

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