Two Gaza city hospitals taken out of service as Israeli offensive escalates

Israel says it has reinforced combat fronts by air, land and sea for Jewish New Year holiday

A Palestinian man reacts as people try to rescue his daughter after Israeli strikes on residential buildings in Gaza City on Monday. Reuters

Two Gaza city hospitals have been taken out of service due to Israel's escalation of its ground offensive and damage caused by continued Israeli bombing, the Gaza Health Ministry said, as tanks advanced deeper into the territory.

The ministry said Al Rantisi Children's Hospital was badly damaged a few days ago by Israeli bombardment. It also reported Israeli attacks in the vicinity of the nearby Eye Hospital, which forced it to suspend services as well.

"The occupation deliberately and systematically targets the healthcare system in the Gaza governorate as part of its genocidal policy against the Strip," it said.

"None of the facilities or hospitals have safe access routes that allow patients and the wounded to reach them," the ministry added. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Also on Monday, a child was among at least 20 people killed as Israel carried out more aerial bombardments on Gaza and bolstered its military presence.

Israeli forces said it had reinforced combat fronts by air, land and sea for the Jewish New Year holiday following a “multi-front assessment”.

Israeli troops are on high alert, fearing that extremists could use the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which runs from Monday to Wednesday, to incite violence. The Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 was carried out on a Jewish holiday.

Official Palestinian media quoted medical sources as saying the child was killed on Monday when Israeli forces bombed a vehicle east of the town of Al Zawaida in central Gaza, which also left several people wounded.

A separate bombing of a home in Al Sabra neighbourhood south of Gaza city killed an unknown number of people, the Wafa news agency added.

Dozens more were killed and others wounded when Israeli fighter jets struck a residential building in Al Samar in central Gaza city, Wafa said. An air strike also hit a house near Al Shifa Tower, west of the city.

The violence comes as Israeli troops try to take control of Gaza's largest urban centre, which Israeli leaders say is a Hamas stronghold. Israel says the area houses between 2,000 and 3,000 Hamas fighters and the military operation aims to neutralise the group's central command.

But the offensive has been widely condemned by the international community over fears it will worsen the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where the UN says more than half a million people are trapped in famine.

The Allenby border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan, a major route for aid deliveries to Gaza, was reopened on Monday by Israel, which had closed it last week following a shooting in the area.

Gaza boy rescued from under rubble after Israeli strike on doctor's home

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According to Israeli media, the crossing carries about 10 per cent of all aid bound for Gaza. On Thursday a Jordanian lorry driver opened fire at the crossing, killing two Israeli soldiers.

Israeli military orders evacuation of Gaza city hospital

The Jordanian field hospital in the city's south-western neighbourhood of Tel Al Hawa received orders to evacuate on Monday morning, the Associated Press cited a senior health official as saying.

The military has already ordered all Palestinians in Gaza city to head south, to central and southern Gaza Strip. It has told aid workers in private messages that all humanitarian sites – except hospitals – must evacuate.

Dr Muneer Al Boush, director general of the Gaza Health Ministry, said that the hospital has at least 300 patients, as well as medical staff and family members of the patients, the AP reported.

The order came as residents reported that troops were approaching the facility, with dozens of families trapped in their homes and shelters around the hospital.

The Israeli army also said that it had killed the Deputy Commander of Hamas’s Naval Police, Iyad Abu Yusuf. “Yusuf took part in Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7th,” the Israeli army said in a statement on Monday.

Hamas has said it will only free the hostages in return for Palestinian detainees held in Israel, as well as a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Growing scrutiny

Israel has faced growing scrutiny over its conduct in the war. UN investigators have accused the country of committing genocide in an effort to “destroy the Palestinians”. They also accuse Mr Netanyahu and other senior officials of incitement to the cause.

Conditions in Gaza are dire, with the World Health Organisation last week saying hospitals in the north were on the “brink of collapse”.

“We are treating patients on the floor … mass casualty after mass casualty,” said one foreign doctor volunteering at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city, which is one of the largest medical centres in the enclave.

In videos posted to social media, Australian medic Nada Abu Alrub recounted in harrowing detail some of the medical cases she has dealt with in only two days since arriving.

She delivered a baby from a dead woman's body, she said, in a centre with no electricity or internet.

“We are not allowed to show the photos because they are so [graphic], but we are documenting this as part of what is happening for the future, because someone needs to see this, someone needs to help those poor people,” she said.

She said there were very few doctors because many had been killed or fled south. “Anyone who stays here, they know they will be killed.”

The complex had been heavily attacked with helicopters, fighter jets, robots and “all sorts of weapons”, she added.

“The number of patients and the number of dead bodies arriving is ridiculous. We have more than 1,500 people still dead under the rubble of the hospital.”

About 70 to 80 per cent of the patients were children and pregnant women, she said. “Healthcare workers have been working day and night. They are working non-stop tirelessly, thin, exhausted. They have been malnourished for two years.”