Israeli forces and Hamas fighters engaged in a deadly battle Thursday in and around two of the Gaza Strip's main hospitals, as the Israeli government faces domestic and international pressure to ease its efforts in the war that has devastated the enclave.
Fighting continued for 11 days at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, in an area first captured by Israeli forces in November. The clashes demonstrated the difficulty Israelis have in maintaining control of areas they have already occupied as Palestinian militants disperse and return.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has become increasingly unpopular and has faced widespread criticism, met for the first time with the families of abducted soldiers held in Gaza. He accused the government of ignoring the plight of people for nearly six months. Relatives of the soldiers have remained largely silent in public as other prisoners' families speak out, with many saying the prime minister should agree to a ceasefire with Hamas to free their relatives. .
But despite pressure from hostage families, the Biden administration, the United Nations and others, there has been no apparent change in Israel's resolve to continue attacking Gaza, and the Security Council passed a resolution on Monday calling for an end. fire. The United States, which had vetoed previous ceasefire resolutions, abstained on Monday and allowed the bill to pass, demonstrating its dissatisfaction with Israel's war efforts.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague on Thursday ordered Israel to take concrete steps to stop obstructing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as famine spreads there, and ordered Israel to take overland routes for supplies. He called for more crossings and “full cooperation” with the United Nations. Countries. The ruling contained the strongest language ever used by the court in considering a case in which South Africa accused Israel of genocide, which Israel denies.
“The devastating living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have worsened,” the court said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right members of his coalition continue brutal air and ground attacks, including a planned invasion of the southern city of Rafah, where most of Gaza's population has fled, to destroy Hamas as Israel fights insists that it must be done. Win by forcing the release of hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the talks that the prisoners could only be released by “the continuation of the strong military pressure that we have exerted and will continue to exert.” He added: “We are preparing to enter Rapha.”
Some family members asked at a press conference before the meeting why the prime minister had met many times with the families of other hostages but not with the soldiers' families. Almost half of the more than 250 people captured in the October 7 Hamas-led raid on Israel have been freed, and many of those remaining – it's unclear how many – are soldiers.
“Our sons were abandoned,” Anat Engelst said. His son Matan is one of the soldiers who was kidnapped. Five female soldiers are also being held by Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu was outraged by the passage of the UN resolution and responded by canceling a visit to Washington by senior Israeli officials that President Biden had requested to discuss alternatives to invading Rafah. On Thursday, White House Press Secretary John F. Kirby told reporters the administration was working with the Israeli government to reschedule the meeting, but Israel has not confirmed that.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu told families of captured soldiers: “We have conquered the northern Strip as well as the Khan Yunis area,” but as he spoke heavy fighting was still underway in both areas. Ta.
Military strategists and Western officials not only call Israel's war efforts unduly destructive and deadly, they also question their effectiveness. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have targeted Israeli forces in and around al-Shifa hospital since the latest Israeli assault began on March 18, according to an analysis by the Washington research group Institute for the Study of War. It is said that the attack was carried out over 70 times. .
“This high attack rate indicates that despite continued Israeli clearance efforts around Gaza City, Palestinian militias maintain significant combat effectiveness in the area,” the analysis said. , the nature of each attack is not detailed.
Retired Major General Yaakov Amidrol, who served as Netanyahu's national security adviser in the previous government, said Israel had withdrawn most of its troops from the north and was relying on regular raids lasting several months. He described the operation as a “mopping up” and “area cleaning.”
Israel's war effort in Gaza has faced growing condemnation around the world. After the October 7 attacks, American public opinion, which had been largely favorable to Israel's actions, sharply turned against it.
More than 32,000 people have been killed in the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and many more are feared to have died, either missing or trapped under rubble. Most of the enclave's 2.2 million people were forced to flee their homes, and much of its infrastructure was destroyed or damaged. Too little food and other necessities are reaching Gazans, and the United Nations has warned that starvation is imminent. Relief groups have accused Israel of restricting supplies, and Israel has blamed them for the chaos and Hamas' diversion.
The Israeli military said in a statement Thursday that it killed nearly 200 people it called terrorists in fighting in or near Gaza's largest hospital al-Shifa, with Israeli forces firing from gunmen inside and outside one of the hospitals. building. Gaza authorities said more than 200 civilians were killed in the attack and another 1,000 were detained. Neither claim could be independently verified.
Witnesses said terror continued throughout the day and night in al-Shifa, where many civilians came to escape fighting and shelling nearby, and several patients died.
“I constantly hear strikes and gunshots and see smoke rising from buildings day and night,” said Ezzeldin al-Dali, who lives within a mile of al-Shifa. He said Israeli forces set fire to several houses in the area after residents were evacuated. This claim could not be independently verified.
“Words cannot describe the scale of the destruction around us,” Al-Dari, 22, said in an audio message Thursday. “Houses that have not been reduced to rubble have been burned,” he added.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, fighting has raged all week in and around al-Amal hospital, which was closed on Monday night as Israeli forces besieged it and forced everyone inside to leave. A bulldozer was used to block the entrance. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which runs the hospital, said it was an earthwork.
Most of Gaza's hospitals are no longer functioning, and those that do are severely short of supplies and staff. “Al-Amal's loss is another blow to an already crumbling health system,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday.
Report contributor: matthew mpork big, Jonathan Rees, Richard Perez Peña and katie rogers.