Israel besieges two hospitals in Gaza in light of a possible truce with Hamas

Jerusalem, January 31 – The Israeli army tightens its siege on two important hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip, where the situation has become “catastrophic,” while a possible truce is taking shape that could mean the liberation of more of the Strip. More than 100 hostages are held by the Islamic movement Hamas.

Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority, said, “The situation is getting worse in the Al-Nasr Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis,” the most important area in the southern Palestinian Strip. Statement of the Islamic Hamas movement.

He added that their “catastrophic situation threatens” the lives of thousands of patients, doctors and displaced people residing there, stressing that the two hospitals had run out of food and the levels of fuel needed to operate machines and provide electricity had decreased. – Seriously decreased.

For its part, the Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency Service, which operates in Gaza, confirmed that Israeli forces “are still stationed in the southeastern area of ​​Al-Amal Hospital, and there are snipers on the rooftops of surrounding houses.” the hospital. “.

In addition, “explosions are heard as a result of attacks by the occupation forces taking place in the area, which continue to prevent everyone inside the hospital from leaving the outside,” he said.

According to the Red Crescent, the occupation soldiers attacked the displaced people and a number of their workers at Al-Amal Hospital since this morning, resulting in 13 casualties, including seven deaths.

The Israeli army estimates that senior Hamas leaders in Gaza are hiding in Khan Yunis, which is why it has intensified its air, land and sea offensive in this area for several weeks, but it also continues heavy fighting in the center and north. sector, so as not to lose the control you gained.

Today, the Palestinian Prisoners' Committee denounced the Israeli occupation forces' execution of 30 Palestinians from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, after their bodies were found with their hands tied and their eyes closed in a school surrounded by armored tanks.

It also reported that there was an increase in horrific testimonies given by detainees, including children and women, who were subjected to various forms of ill-treatment, including physical and psychological abuse, during their detention by the Israeli occupation forces.

On the 117th day of the war, the number of casualties in Gaza due to the war is approaching 27,000 dead and 66,000 wounded, most of whom are children and women, in addition to 8,000 missing under the rubble and other inaccessible parts of the Strip.

Moreover, about two million Gazans, almost the entire population, have been displaced and forced to survive an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with hospitals collapsing, epidemics spreading, and the brink of famine as it continues. Medicine and electricity.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army recorded new casualties, adding 224 soldiers killed since the start of the ground incursion.

The war broke out on October 7 after a Hamas attack that included rocket fire and the infiltration of thousands of militiamen, who killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others in Israeli towns near the Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday to relatives of more than 100 hostages still in the Gaza Strip held by Hamas that a plan is being prepared to rescue them, amid intense negotiations to reach a new truce. the war. .

“Although it is too early to determine how this will happen, efforts are being made now,” Netanyahu told 26 representatives of 18 families during the meeting in Jerusalem, according to a statement from his office.

In recent weeks, Hamas said it was ready to release the hostages in exchange for a final ceasefire, something that Netanyahu strongly rejected, considering that the war must continue until the Islamic group is “eliminated.”

However, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, acting as mediators in the war between Israel and Hamas, are negotiating a new truce similar to the one reached for a week at the end of November, which allowed for the release of 105 hostages. Changing the release date of 240 Palestinian prisoners (women and minors) in Israeli occupation prisons.

It is estimated that there are currently 132 hostages in Gaza (121 Israelis and 11 foreigners), at least 26 of whom have died, according to Israeli authorities. Evie

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