Category World News

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.

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.

Sanctions that were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal have been reimposed by the UN.

The Lebanese government’s Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, has told Al Jazeera that the US is not interested in pressuring anyone to give up its weapons, and that the US is doing so.

The Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah, which was one of the key components of the November ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, were once again rejected by Barrack’s comments a day later.

Naim stated on Saturday that “we will never give up our weapons, nor will we give up them,” adding that Hezbollah would continue to “confront any project that benefits Israel.” The Lebanese government’s disarmament plan, according to Hezbollah, only serves Israel’s interests.

Israel, the US’s closest regional ally, and Israel have been working together to end Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, a day after Israel began its occupation of Gaza. More than 4, 000 people had already died as a result of Israel’s strikes on Lebanon on November 27.

Hezbollah, which has lost ground in the conflict, continues to be a significant political force for the Shia community and its allies are members of the parliament.

Hezbollah is “a legitimate political party in Lebanon,” according to Barrack in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Arabic.

Israeli attacks occur almost daily.

Hezbollah, which the US describes as a “terrorist” foreign organization, was described by the US envoy as “a fundamental component of the Lebanese political system.”

The Lebanese political leaders who agreed to the goals of a US-backed plan for Hezbollah’s arsenal, described as “a complex problem for them.”

Despite Hezbollah’s outright refusal to disarm, the plan was approved by Lebanon’s cabinet on August 7, raising concerns that Israel might launch additional attacks against Lebanon.

Since the November ceasefire agreement, Israel has been occupying Lebanese territory and has carried out nearly daily attacks in southern Lebanon.

A drone strike on a home in Humin and a series of Israeli air strikes near the towns of Kfar Rumman and Jarmak, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency on Sunday.

The US envoy, Barrack, claimed that aiding Lebanon “would not be our responsibility.” He said, “We don’t put pressure on anyone, and we won’t let Israel or Lebanon dictate what they should do.”

We said this was your internal issue, and we were right. You must disarm the parties and organizations that don’t adhere to the constitution in order to have a united army and a true state.

The envoy claimed that Israel would continue to be at odds with it as long as Hezbollah was seen as “hostile, rebuilding, and rearming.”

US considering the future of Gaza and Syria.

According to Barrack, US President Donald Trump was “eager” and “looking for the “right solution” to put an end to the Gaza war.

According to him, “I think the president understood the importance of moving forward and getting it done quickly,” he told Al Jazeera.

After former President Bashar al-Assad’s ousting opened the door for the nation’s readmission, the envoy also praised Syria’s first UN General Assembly appearance in nearly 60 years.

In the months since al-Assad was removed in January, Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has established new institutions, plans to hold elections, and promoted foreign investment.

In July, the US removed the Syrian-led “foreign terrorist organizations” (HTS), which al-Sharaa led, from its “foreign terrorist organizations” list, reflecting a change in policy toward post-Assad Syria.

Barrack praised al-Sharaa’s efforts to end the country’s lingering conflicts in the southern and northeastern regions, saying that Trump had chosen to “give them a chance.”