Israel strikes again across Gaza, hospitals also targeted

The Jordanian military said it held Israel responsible for the “flagrant violation of international law” in causing damage to the facility. The Israeli military denied attacking or damaging the hospital, saying it opened fire after encountering a “terrorist” group next to the hospital.

Israel attacks all over Gaza, hospitals also become targets image 1 — Israel has returned to attack northern Gaza. Photo: Reuters

In a statement, the Israeli military said it could not determine the source of the shooting, which injured a medical worker, and that the hospital was “operating normally.”

People in and around another hospital, Nasser Hospital, fled as tanks approached the area overnight after the Israeli army said they had come under attack from the area.

Palestinian health officials say seven people were killed in Israeli air strikes that damaged homes near the Nasser hospital, one of the few hospitals in Gaza that is still partially operational.

Further south from the hospital in nearby Rafah, Palestinian health officials said 16 people were killed when an Israeli missile hit a house in the city just before midnight on Wednesday.

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said more field hospitals are expected to be operational in the coming days.

“Of course these are necessary because Hamas is militarizing existing hospitals in Gaza,” he said, adding that this shows that Hamas militants are the ones violating international law.

In central Gaza, the Israeli military said it had killed militants in Deir al-Balah who tried to fire mortars at its forces. It said soldiers had arrested seven militants and killed several others, as well as destroyed rocket launchers in the Bureij area, where it said 25 rockets were fired on Tuesday.

Israel attacks all over Gaza again, hospitals also become targets image 2 — A tent camp for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

Fighting also broke out in the densely populated Jabalia area in northern Gaza on Wednesday, a day after Israeli tanks returned to attack areas they had left last week.

In early January, Israel announced it was scaling back operations in Gaza in what it called a more targeted approach to the fight against Hamas after operations to flatten entire neighborhoods.

The head of the Palestine Investment Fund, Mohammed Mustafa, told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday that it would take at least $15 billion just to rebuild homes in Gaza, not taking into account the massive damage to essential infrastructure and hospitals.

Palestinian health officials say 163 Gazans have been reported killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 24,448. Israel's war in Gaza has entered its fourth month.

Israel reported two more deaths of its soldiers, bringing the total number of deaths since the start of its ground campaign in Gaza to 193. Israel said it had killed 9,000 Hamas militants and vowed to “eliminate” the militant group.

Bui Huy (according to Reuters, AJ)

Source