A top World Health Organization official described the hospital situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” on Monday, saying most are no longer functioning and what remains will likely be overwhelmed by thousands of births expected in the next month. The United Nations briefing came hours after a shell struck the second floor of a hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry and a medical worker. The ministry and the worker both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital. Heavy fighting broke out around the Indonesian Hospital, which has housed thousands of patients and displaced people for weeks. The fighting came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory’s largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound. Israel says Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as shields, while critics say Israel’s siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians after Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel. More than 12,700 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been killed since the war began, according to Palestinian health authorities, who do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 4,000 people are reported missing. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the Oct. 7 attack, and around 240 were taken captive by militants.
Quick Read
- Gaza Hospital Crisis:
- A World Health Organization official labeled Gaza’s hospital situation as catastrophic.
- Most hospitals are non-operational; remaining ones face an influx of births.
- Recent Hospital Attack:
- A shell hit a hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12.
- Israel denies responsibility for the attack.
- WHO’s Assessment:
- Michael Ryan from WHO described dire health services in Gaza.
- Gaza hospitals unable to handle complex cases and upcoming childbirths.
- Israeli military advances could exacerbate health crises.
- Interrogation of Hamas Members:
- Over 300 Hamas members arrested and interrogated by the Israeli military.
- Interrogations revealed locations of tunnels, weapons, and use of civilian sites.
- Spain and Belgium’s Diplomatic Visit:
- Spanish and Belgian leaders to visit Israel and Palestinian territories.
- Focus on civilian protection, hostage release, and lasting political solutions.
- Israeli Shelling in Lebanon:
- Home of a Lebanese legislator allied with Hezbollah hit by Israeli shelling.
- Tensions rise along Lebanon-Israel border following Hamas attacks on Israel.
- Grief in Refugee Camps:
- Mourners in Gaza’s refugee camps grieve for those killed in Israeli airstrikes.
- Dozens believed to be buried under rubble.
The Associated Press has the story:
WHO official says Gaza’s hospitals situation ‘Catastrophic’
Newslooks- GENEVA (AP)
The World Health Organization warned Monday that health services in Gaza had suffered “catastrophic” damage, with most hospitals no longer functioning.
“We now have 1.7 million people displaced so we have twice or three times the population (in the south of Gaza), using one third of the hospital beds in less than a third of the hospitals available,” Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, told a United Nations briefing, speaking from Geneva.
“Even if tomorrow morning, this were to end in terms of a ceasefire, we still have a huge problem on our hands.”
Ryan said the services in the territory were already unable to provide care for more complex medical cases – including care for most cancer and kidney dialysis patients – and would likely be overwhelmed by some 5,500 births expected in the next month.
Plans by the Israeli military to push further south, he said, would worsen health conditions even further.
“The hospital situation – the primary health care system situation – in Gaza is catastrophic and it is the worst you can imagine (in the) north,” Ryan said.
ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS MORE THAN 300 HAMAS ARRESTEES INTERROGATED
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Monday it has interrogated over 300 members of Hamas and other militant groups arrested in Gaza during its ground invasion, revealing the locations of underground tunnels, warehouses, weapons, and Hamas’ use of civilian infrastructure.
“Each and every interrogation leads to the release of new locations and the human intelligence that emerges from the Gaza Strip,” said a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity under army guidelines.
Israel has said Hamas has built a vast underground command complex center below Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest and best-equipped hospital. Gaza health officials and Hamas deny it.
The army says its human intelligence unit, called Unit 504, placed thousands of calls to Gaza residents and dropped millions of leaflets urging them to evacuate to the southern part of the territory, as Israeli forces continue to target buildings in northern Gaza.
SPAIN, BELGIUM LEADERS TO VISIT REGION
MADRID — Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Belgium Prime Minister Alexander de Croo will visit Israel and Palestinian territories on Thursday, the Spanish government said.
Spain holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council and Belgium will take over in January.
They will meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as with Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The government said the talks will focus on protection for civilians, the release of hostages, humanitarian access to Gaza and respect for international humanitarian law. It added they would also discuss the need for a lasting political solution for the region, based on the two-states solution.
ISRAELI SHELLING HITS HOME OF LEBANESE LEGISLATOR FROM HEZBOLLAH-ALLIED PARTY
BEIRUT — Israeli shelling hit the home of a Lebanese legislator from a political party allied with Hezbollah on Monday. No one was hurt.
Kabalan Kabalan, a senior official of the Shiite Muslim Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, told The Associated Press he was not at home when the shelling hit in the border village of Mais al-Jabal.
Tension has been rising along the Lebanon-Israel border since the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people. More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing Israeli bombardment, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank, which coordinates with officials in the Health Ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.
Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has been attacking Israeli posts along the border since last month, and attacks have intensified in recent days.
The shelling of Mais al-Jabal came hours after Hezbollah fighters fired two heavy Burkan rockets at an Israeli post along the border, causing heavy damage. Israeli airstrikes and shelling struck several areas along the Lebanese side of the border.
SURVIVORS MOURN FOR DOZENS KILLED IN REFUGEE CAMPS
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — In central Gaza, mourners recited funeral prayers as they stood over dozens of bodies recovered after a barrage of Israeli airstrikes that hit two refugee camps Monday.
The bodies, wrapped in white sheets and makeshift plastic body bags, were laid on the ground in the city of Deir Al Balah. Medics said dozens more remain unaccounted for and are believed to be trapped or buried under the rubble of multiple collapsed buildings.
At the scene of the bombing, residents sat in small groups in the rubble next to mangled steel reinforcement bars. The recovered bodies were placed in a truck to be buried nearby.
Currently:
— 31 premature babies are evacuated from Gaza’s largest hospital
— Yemen’s Houthi rebels hijack an Israeli-linked ship in the Red Sea
— China welcomes Arab and Islamic foreign ministers for talks on ending the war in Gaza
— Attacks are on the rise in the West Bank, which faces its own war
— French performers lead a silent Paris march for peace between Israelis and Palestinians
— Tens of thousands rally in Pakistan against Israel’s bombing in Gaza
— Dissent over US policy in the Israel-Hamas war stirs unusual public protests from federal employees
— French Holocaust survivors are recoiling at new antisemitism, and activists are pleading for peace
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
