Jerusalem — Gaza health ministry said Wednesday that Israeli forces have opened fire at hospital rooms, raising fears for the safety of 12 children in pediatric care.
“The occupation (Israeli) forces have tightened the siege and the targeting of Kamal Adwan hospital, firing at patient rooms and courtyards,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.
“We fear the death of 12 children in pediatric care who are already deprived of milk and are without life support equipment.”
The Israeli army did not offer an immediate comment, while AFP was unable to confirm the situation at the hospital independently.
On Tuesday Qudra said that Israeli forces had stormed the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the Palestinian territory and were rounding up men in the courtyard.
The previous day, the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said two mothers were killed when the maternity department of Kamal Adwan hospital was reportedly hit.
In Wednesday’s statement, Qudra said that Israeli forces had detained hospital director Ahmed al-Kahlot and other staff members who were “tortured and deprived of food and drink”. They were later released, he said.
Israeli troops have previously raided other medical facilities in Gaza, including Al-Shifa, the territory’s largest hospital.
The military accuses Hamas of using hospitals as command centers to plan and launch attacks against Israeli forces, a charge denied by the militant group.
There is currently only one hospital in northern Gaza able to admit patients, according to the UN.
Just 14 of 36 hospitals across the territory are functioning, providing limited healthcare while sheltering thousands of displaced people, the World Health Organization said Sunday.
More than 18,600 Gazans have been killed and almost 50,600 wounded since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted more than two months ago, according to the health ministry.
Around 1,200 people were killed in an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on October 7, Israeli officials say, which sparked the blistering military response on Gaza.
The majority of war casualties in Israel and Gaza have been civilians.
Israeli army’s deadliest day
Israel’s army said the number of soldiers killed so far in its offensive in Gaza had reached 115.
It said 10 soldiers had been killed in fighting in the north of the territory on Tuesday, the deadliest day so far for its forces since Israel’s ground assault into the territory began on October 27.
War to continue with or without international support: Israeli minister
Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that the war in the Gaza Strip would continue “with or without international support”.
“Israel will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support. A ceasefire at the current stage is a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel,” Cohen told a visiting diplomat, according to a statement issued by his ministry.
It follows an overwhelming vote by the UN General Assembly in favour of a ceasefire, which was backed by Israel’s traditional allies Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The non-binding resolution was backed by 153 nations, with just 10, including Israel and the US, opposing it and 23 abstaining.
Biden to meet families of hostages
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday was meeting with the families of American hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza, a White House official said.
The in-person meeting, which is the first between the US president and hostages’ families, “is taking place this morning,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, without providing further details.
People of Gaza ‘running out of time and options’: UNRWA chief
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned Wednesday that the people of Gaza were “running out of time and options” as Israel’s war against Hamas grinds on.
“They face bombardment, deprivation and disease in an ever-shrinking space,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.
Lazzari, who has described the situation in Gaza as “hell on earth,” warned that people in the Palestinian territory “facing the darkest chapter of their history since 1948, and it has been a painful history”.
The UN estimates 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced and were receiving goods from only around 100 aid trucks per day.
“We are very far from an adequate humanitarian response,” Lazzarini said, adding that when aid is delivered, it is often not more than a can of tuna or beans and one bottle of water for a large family to share.
He described seeing people halting an aid truck and in desperation swallowing down the food found inside in the street.
“The people of Gaza are now crammed into less than one-third of the original territory near the Egyptian border, he pointed out, hinting the dire situation might soon spark an exodus.
“It is unrealistic to think that people will remain resilient in the face of unlivable conditions of such magnitude, especially when the border is so close,” he said.
The city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, the only crossing where aid is entering Gaza, has seen its population explode from 280,000 to more than a million, Lazzarini said.
While most aid delivery in Gaza depends on UNRWA, he warned the agency’s capacities are “now on the verge of collapse”.
EU chief backs West Bank sanctions
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Violence has surged in the territory since the start of the war in Gaza, with about 270 Palestinians killed by settlers or Israeli security forces since October 7.
On December 5, the United States announced it would refuse visas for extremist settlers.