As its army continued its ground operation, Israel has been leveling entire blocks and sending terrified patients to safety across Gaza’s largest medical complex.
Sunday’s “horrific scenes” inside al-Shifa Hospital were described as “horrific scenes” as many patients were forced to flee despite needing urgent care. Despite the “heinous conditions and overwhelming fear,” staff members continued to work, according to Hasan al-Sha’ir, the hospital’s medical director.
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At least 100 patients are receiving treatment in “extremely challenging circumstances” and are ineligibly frightened of a shortage of life-saving medications and medical equipment, according to al-Sha’ir.
The use of fire belts, an incendiary weapon that causes flames to spread across a land strip, was confirmed by Palestinian Center for Human Rights researchers. As military forces advanced from the facility’s northern and eastern sides, the military also deployed explosive-laden vehicles around the hospital.
The Israeli army shelled another medical facility, the Al Helou Hospital in Gaza City, which houses a cancer ward and a neonatal unit where 12 premature babies are being cared for, according to medical sources cited by the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
More than 90 employees, including doctors, nurses, and patients, were trapped inside the hospital as Israeli tanks surrounded it, preventing both entry and exit, according to Wafa’s medical staff.
After announcing an evacuation threat for Gaza City’s Remal and Sabra neighborhoods, as well as the port area and some of Beirut Street, the Israeli army also bombed a multistory structure, the Mecca Tower.
As Israeli forces continue to occupy the city, flattening entire blocks of once-trunk housing that once housed thousands of people, in recent weeks, at least 50 multistory structures have been destroyed.
Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera called the attacks in Gaza City “massive” and “relentless.”
He claimed that they combine heavy artillery, drone strikes, [quake bombs] with quake bombs that are dropped on areas and shattered buildings’ foundations.
The Palestinian armed group’s Qassam Brigades, which controls Hamas, announced in a statement on Sunday that it had lost communication with two of its captives who had been taken from Israel at the beginning of the year.
Given that that area has been under constant bombardment in recent days, Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said, “the risk that those captives have gone missing under rubble is very high.”
diplomatic pressure to put an end to the conflict
Since there have been 66, 000 deaths since October 2023, there has been more talk of a diplomatic solution to the nearly two-year-old conflict, which a UN inquiry panel has referred to as genocide.
Donald Trump, the president of the US, stated in an interview with Reuters that he hoped to discuss a proposed Gaza peace plan with the prime minister of Israel on Monday.
Trump claimed that the Israeli and Arab leaders’ “very good response” to the proposal for the Gaza peace plan was “very important,” and that “everyone wants to make a deal.” Hass said the group has not yet received any mediators or proposals from Trump.
On the eve of his meeting with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he was working on a ceasefire strategy.
Netanyahu stated, “We’re working on it.” Although it hasn’t been finalized yet, we’re currently working with President Trump’s team and I’m hoping to have a good time.
Netanyahu has repeatedly argued that Hamas must abandon its weapons or suffer defeat. He stated to Fox News on Sunday that he was willing to work out a resolution requiring Hamas leaders to be escorted out of Gaza.
Hamas has vowed to keep its weapons at bay as long as Palestinians are fighting for a state, and it has opposed any leader’s expulsion from Gaza.
King Abdullah II of Jordan expressed optimism about Trump’s proposal, saying many of its details were “what was agreed upon” in many ways. The details of the 21-point plan for Gaza that Arab and Muslim leaders on Tuesday were not made public, but it is reportedly intended to forbid Hamas from any further influence over the region.
Additionally, it is said to include a Trump promise that Israel won’t annex the West Bank and that it will receive military support from Arab and Muslim nations as a guarantee of security.
JD Vance, the US vice president, has a cautious optimism about the agreement. In an interview with Fox News, Vance said, “I feel more optimistic about where we are right now than where we have been at any point in the last few months.” “But be realistic, these things can derail in the absolute last minute,” he said. So I’m cautiously optimistic while still holding out very much.
Marwan Bishara, a senior political analyst for Al Jazeera, claimed the original draft agreement was modified in response to Trump’s meeting with Arab leaders in response to Palestinian demands.
Bishara said that while Trump is “talking seriously about the Palestinian state for the first time,” there are still some unanswered questions.
