CAIRO (Dispatches) -- At least 31 people were martyred during Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian medics said, with nearly half of the deaths in northern areas where the Zionist military has waged a month-long campaign of death and destruction.
Palestinians said the new aerial and ground invasions and forced evacuations were “ethnic cleansing” aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a camp of their population in order to create buffer zones.
Medics said at least 13 Palestinians were martyred in separate attacks on houses in Beit Lahiya town and Jabalia, the largest of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps and the focus of the Zionist military new onslaught.
The rest were martyred in separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and in southern areas, including one in Khan Younis, which health officials said had killed eight people, including four children.
Media reports asaid Israeli forces bombed Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia and also shelled Kamal Adwan and the Indonesian hospitals in Beit Lahiya.
The hospitals are now out of service after coming under intense Israeli fire.
Israeli bombardment of Kamal Adwan Hospital resulted in injuries and damage to vital medical equipment.
“We were sleeping in the morning when we heard a loud bombing sound. Stones and sand were flying at us,” a resident of Beit Lahiya was quoted as saying.
Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, stated that there was extensive shelling and demolition of residential blocks surrounding the hospital and the Yemen al-Saeed area throughout the night.
The explosions caused significant damage, even to the hospital itself, where nearly all doors and most windows were shattered.
The blasts created a sense of terror and fear among patients in Kamal Adwan Hospital, and unfortunately, the situation is ongoing, he said.
“We have not received any medical
delegations,” Abu Safiya added.
“Currently, we have 120 injured patients in the hospital, most of whom require urgent surgeries, but sadly, we are unable to provide assistance. We are in urgent need of increased international pressure to help the healthcare system fulfill its duties in accordance with applicable humanitarian laws,” he said.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, the death toll in the besieged enclave since October 7, 2023 had rises to 43,341, with more than 102,105 wounded. At least 10,000 people are still missing, likely dead and buried under rubble.
Health officials report that over 60 percent of the victims are women and children.
On Saturday, the Israeli military sent a new military division to Jabalia to join two other operating battalions, a statement said.
The Gaza health ministry said Israel’s military invasion in northern Gaza was stopping them from vaccinating thousands of children in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoun.
It said one clinic had come under Israeli fire while parents brought their children for the anti-polio dose on Saturday and that four children had been injured.
The head of the World Health Organization said in a statement the clinic incident took place despite a humanitarian pause agreed upon by the two warring parties, Israel and Hamas, to allow the vaccination campaign.
“A @WHO team was at the site just before. This attack, during a humanitarian pause, jeopardizes the sanctity of health protection for children and may deter parents from bringing their children for vaccination,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Saturday.
“These vital humanitarian-area-specific pauses must be absolutely respected. Ceasefire!” he said.
A larger ceasefire that would end the war and see the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza as well as Palestinians jailed by Israel remains remote due to disagreements between Hamas and the occupying regime.
Hamas wants an agreement to end the war permanently, refusing recent offers for temporary truces, while Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says war can only end when Hamas is eradicated.