The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the radical Islamist group Hamas, said about 200 patients were evacuated from a hospital that was attacked. The evacuation from the Indonesian hospital in Jabalija, in the northern Gaza Strip, was carried out with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a ministry spokesman said on Monday evening. According to Hamas, twelve people died in the bombing of the clinic.
The evacuees were taken by bus to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. An AFP correspondent in the city saw two buses accompanied by the Red Cross arrive at Nasser Hospital.
According to the information provided by Hamas, there are still 400 patients in the clinic in Indonesia. The spokesman said efforts were being made with the ICRC to evacuate them. There are also around 2,000 salespeople in and around the clinic. The Israeli army surrounds the hospital.
An unconfirmed media report that the fight to free hostages held by Islamist Hamas would be suspended on Monday was not confirmed until the evening. But US President Joe Biden assumes that a deal to release many hostages may be achievable. Asked by a journalist whether such a deal was foreseeable, Biden said in Washington on Monday: “I think so.” Mediator Qatar reported progress on Sunday in talks with Hamas and Israel on such an agreement.
Israel accuses the terrorist organization Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip for military purposes. The Indonesian hospital is also said to be surrounded by “terrorist infrastructure”, according to the military. The clinic was built on the Hamas tunnel system. This information could not initially be independently verified. But the allegations have raised concerns about a possible deployment at the hospital complex.
Meanwhile, 28 of the premature babies evacuated from Shifa Hospital in Gaza came to Egypt for treatment. Some are in mortal danger, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). State-affiliated Egyptian television channel Al-Kahira showed babies in incubators being handed over to Egyptian ambulances at the Rafah border gate. The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed the transfer.
According to Doctors Without Borders, at least 70 people died in the Israeli air strike on the city of Khan Younis. Dozens of patients, including many children and teenagers, had to be treated for serious burns at Nasser Hospital on Sunday, the charity said, citing staff at the clinic.
The Israeli army did not initially issue a statement regarding the attacks in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced on Saturday that attacks on the Gaza Strip will soon be expanded southwards.
Extremist Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel again. The military announced Monday that rocket alerts had been triggered several times, including in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv. Israeli media, citing police, reported that rocket fragments fell in the town of Kholon near Tel Aviv in the early evening. No injuries were initially reported. Hamas claimed responsibility for the bombing.
According to the Israeli army’s statement, around 25 rockets were fired from Lebanon to Israel on Monday. The Israeli army said it had attacked several targets in its northern neighbor country. Lebanese Shiite militia group Hezbollah confirmed the attacks in Israel and said it had recorded several attacks.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israeli history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7 near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people were killed and around 240 hostages, including Germany, were kidnapped to Gaza.
Israel responded with massive air strikes by blockading the Gaza Strip and began a ground offensive in late October. More than 13,300 people were killed, according to Islamist Hamas.
(APA/dpa)
Source: Vienna
