‘Horrific’: Israel bombs hospitals, residential towers amid Gaza onslaught

Israel has been pounding Gaza’s largest aesculapian complex, levelling full blocks and sending terrified patients scrambling for information arsenic its service continued a crushed cognition to prehend Gaza City.

Doctors wrong al-Shifa Hospital connected Sunday described “horrific scenes” arsenic galore were forced to fly contempt needing urgent care. Hasan al-Sha’ir, the hospital’s aesculapian director, said that unit person continued to enactment “despite the harsh conditions and overwhelming fear”.

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According to al-Sha’ir, astatine slightest 100 patients are receiving attraction successful “extremely hard circumstances”, with shortages of life-saving drugs and aesculapian equipment.

Researchers astatine the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights confirmed Israel’s usage of occurrence belts, which are incendiary weapons that origin flames to emergence crossed a portion of land. The subject besides deployed explosive-laden vehicles astir the infirmary arsenic subject units precocious from the bluish and eastbound sides of the facility.

According to aesculapian sources cited by the Palestinian Wafa quality agency, the Israeli service shelled different aesculapian facility, the Al Helou Hospital successful Gaza City, which hosts a crab ward and a neonatal portion wherever 12 premature babies are being cared for.

Medical unit told Wafa that much than 90 people, including doctors, nurses and patients, remained trapped wrong the infirmary arsenic Israeli tanks surrounded the facility, blocking some introduction and exit.

The Israeli service connected Sunday besides bombed a multistorey building, the Mecca Tower, aft issuing an evacuation menace for the Remal and Sabra neighbourhoods of Gaza City, arsenic good arsenic the larboard country and parts of Beirut Street.

At slightest 50 multistorey buildings person been destroyed in caller weeks arsenic Israeli forces property their battle connected the city, flattening full blocks that erstwhile housed thousands of people.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud described the attacks successful Gaza City arsenic “massive” and “relentless”.

“They’re a premix of dense artillery, drone strikes [and] quake bombs that are dropped connected areas and destruct the precise foundations of buildings,” helium said.

The Qassam Brigades, the equipped helping of Hamas, said successful a connection connected Sunday that it had lost interaction with 2 of the captives taken from Israel during the Palestinian equipped group’s attacks connected October 7, 2023.

“The hazard that those captives person gone missing nether rubble is precise high, fixed that that country has been subjected to relentless bombardment successful caller days,” Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said.

Diplomatic propulsion to extremity the war

As the decease toll since October 2023 successful Gaza tops 66,000, the past fewer days person seen expanding speech of a diplomatic solution to the astir two-year-old warfare that a UN enquiry sheet dubbed genocide.

US President Donald Trump said successful an interrogation with the Reuters quality bureau that helium hoped to finalise a Gaza bid program connection successful a gathering connected Monday with Israel’s premier minister.

Trump said helium had received a “very bully response” from Israel and Arab leaders to the Gaza bid program proposal, and that “everybody wants to marque a deal”. Hamas said the radical had not yet received immoderate connection from Trump, nor from mediators.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said helium is moving connected a ceasefire program connected the eve of his gathering with Trump.

“We’re moving connected it,” Netanyahu said. “It’s not been finalised yet, but we’re moving with President Trump’s team, actually, arsenic we speak, and I anticipation we tin – we tin marque it a go.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Hamas indispensable laic down its arms oregon beryllium defeated. He told Fox News connected Sunday that helium was consenting to negociate a woody successful which Hamas leaders would beryllium escorted retired of Gaza.

Hamas has said it volition not springiness up its weapons arsenic agelong arsenic Palestinians are struggling for a state, and has refused immoderate expulsion of its leaders from Gaza.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II expressed optimism astir Trump’s proposal, saying galore of its details align with “what has been agreed upon”. The details of the 21-point program for Gaza that was presented to Arab and Muslim leaders connected Tuesday person not been disclosed, but the program is reportedly designed to barroom Hamas from immoderate aboriginal relation successful governing the territory.

It is besides said to see a committedness from Trump that Israel volition not annex the occupied West Bank, and involves subject contributions from Arab and Muslim countries to warrant security.

US Vice President JD Vance has expressed cautious optimism implicit the deal. “I consciousness much optimistic astir wherever we are close present than wherever we person been astatine immoderate constituent successful the past fewer months,” Vance said successful an interrogation with Fox News. “But let’s beryllium realistic, these things tin get derailed astatine the precise past minute. So portion I stay precise hopeful, I americium cautiously hopeful.”

Al Jazeera’s elder governmental expert Marwan Bishara said the archetypal draught woody was changed aft Trump’s gathering with Arab leaders to bespeak Palestinian requests.

While Trump is for the archetypal clip “talking earnestly astir the Palestinian state”, respective questions stay unanswered, Bishara said.

“Where is that Palestinian state? Will it beryllium sovereign? Will it see Gaza and the West Bank and East Jerusalem? None of that is mentioned there, but determination are a fig of elements to the liking of those different participants who privation to spot a pathway to a Palestinian state.”