Devendra Kumar
As the war in Gaza continues to rage on, the Israeli army has launched a fresh wave of attacks, including raids on two of the last functioning hospitals in the north of the besieged territory. The hospitals in Gaza City and other areas in the north have been targeted in a bid to clear out Hamas militants, according to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Gallant stated that Israeli forces are entering Hamas’s tunnel network in northern Gaza as part of a “final clearing” of militants from the region.
According to Palestinian health officials, dozens of people have been killed in recent days in the densely built urban north, where fighting between Israeli troops and militants has been fierce. Israeli troops have not only raided hospitals but also shelters, detaining men in search of militants and expelling others who were seeking refuge there. The hospitals in question, which have been struggling to provide medical care to the injured and sick, have been severely impacted by the Israeli actions.
The Israeli military claims that 131 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive, while also stating that it has killed some 7,000 militants without providing evidence. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, alleging that the militant group uses civilians as human shields when it fights in residential areas. However, the Health Ministry in Gaza disputes these claims, stating that the death toll since the start of the war has risen to over 19,600, without distinguishing between civilian and combatant deaths.
Meanwhile, Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has warned that the campaign in Gaza’s south will persist for months, indicating that the conflict is far from over. The air and ground war, launched in response to Hamas’s October 7 attack in Israel, has already displaced some 1.9 million people and demolished much of northern Gaza. The war has also sparked attacks on US and Israeli targets across the region.
As the conflict continues to spiral out of control, it is unclear when the violence will subside and when the people of Gaza will be able to return to a sense of normalcy. The targeting of hospitals and other critical infrastructure has left the already vulnerable population in a precarious situation, with access to medical care and basic necessities increasingly difficult to come by.