Many hospitals in the Gaza Strip have to cease operations. Sharp tones come from a special Islamic summit. Foreign Minister Baerbock visits the Palestinian areas in the West Bank. The overview.
Tel Aviv/Gaza/Riyadh – The situation in hospitals in the heavily contested Gaza Strip has deteriorated dramatically. More than a month after the massacre by Islamist Hamas terrorists in Israel and the start of Israeli counterattacks, diplomatic efforts in the conflict were in full swing.
After stops in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in the West Bank. The Gaza war was also the focus of a special summit of Arab and other Islamic states in Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli army continued to attack Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. Extremist Palestinians fired rockets at Israel again. The Israeli military once again gave the residents of the heavily contested north of the coastal strip two safe escape corridors to the south. A “tactical” pause in fighting was announced for the refugee district of Jabalia so that residents can go south.
As a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian civilian population, Foreign Minister Baerbock visited the Palestinian areas in the West Bank. The Green politician met Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtaje in Ramallah. In the evening there were talks in Tel Aviv with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and opposition leader Jair Lapid. It is Baerbock’s third visit to Israel and the Middle East since the conflict broke out.
Many hospitals are no longer in use
Due to heavy bombing, destruction and a lack of medical supplies and fuel, many hospitals in the Gaza Strip are out of operation, doctors and the World Health Organization (WHO) reported. The largest clinic in the Gaza Strip, the Shifa Hospital, also had to stop work, according to a doctor and the Ministry of Health, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas.
“There is no more electricity,” said the doctor at the Shifa Hospital, Ghassan Abu Sitta, to the German Press Agency. Rockets hit the site. “The majority of the staff have left the hospital.” The injured people who could have left. Seriously injured people are still cared for by a core medical team. According to him, only one clinic in the Gaza Strip, the Al-Ahli Hospital, is still in operation. The information could not be independently verified.
Clinic also damaged by fighting
The director of the Shifa Clinic, Mohammad Abu Salamija, said two grenades had hit the inner courtyard. A fire broke out on part of the site. He spoke of “Israeli attacks.” The Israeli army, however, blamed Hamas for the shelling. Accordingly, a misfired Islamist projectile is said to have hit the clinic. According to Israeli intelligence services, the ruling Hamas is using the Shifa Hospital as a command and control center. The information provided by both sides cannot currently be independently verified.
“On average, a child is killed every ten minutes in Gaza,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the UN Security Council. “Nowhere is safe and no one is safe.” Last month there were more than 250 attacks on hospitals in the Gaza Strip and more than 25 in Israel.
Islamic countries discuss conflict
A special summit of Arab and Islamic states in the Saudi capital Riyadh began with sharp criticism of Israel. “We demand an immediate ceasefire,” said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the start. Humanitarian corridors to Gaza must be secured. The only solution to achieve stability in the region is to end the occupation, settlement and siege, said the Crown Prince, referring to Israel. He demanded the release of all hostages and innocent people.
For the first time since the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi traveled to the kingdom for the meeting. He accused Israel of “the most brutal crimes.” Iran sees Israel as an arch-enemy and is behind both the Islamist Hamas and the Shiite Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon, which has increased its attacks on Israel.
Netanyahu rejects calls for ceasefire
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again rejected calls for a ceasefire. He sees responsibility for the suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip solely with Hamas, which rules there. “While Israel does everything in its power to spare civilians and calls on them to leave the combat zones, Hamas uses them as human shields and does everything to prevent them from leaving for safer areas,” wrote Netanyahu on Platform X
Netanyahu also contradicted French President Emmanuel Macron, who had called for a ceasefire. “Civilians, babies, women and old people are being bombed and killed. There is no justification for attacking civilians. We call on Israel to stop this,” Macron said in an interview with the British television station BBC. “I would like to remind everyone of international law, I call for a ceasefire.”
Israel also worries that a ceasefire that goes beyond local or tactical pauses could endanger its troops. Hamas fighters violated a humanitarian ceasefire during the 2014 Gaza war, shooting two Israeli soldiers from a tunnel and abducting the body of a third. His remains have not been returned to this day.
Number of deaths on the Israeli side revised downwards
According to a new estimate from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, around 1,200 people were killed in Israel as a result of the Islamist Hamas massacre on October 7th. Previously the number was given as around 1,400. Israeli media suspect that some of the dead were initially incorrectly counted as victims, even though they were actually terrorists. Identification of the bodies, many of which are in dire condition, is ongoing.
It was the worst bloodbath in Israel’s history. According to Israeli reports, at least 239 people were abducted to the coastal strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 11,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began – mostly Palestinian civilians. dpa
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