The north of the Gaza Stripwhere Israel maintains a harsh offensive that has left around a thousand dead, this Monday exceeded three weeks of what the commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarinidescribed as “hell.”
«Northern Gaza: hell has no end»Lazzarini wrote on his X account a few days after the Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders and began their siege, which is now in its 23rd day.
Today the Civil Defense ambulance services are deactivated, and practically all the staff of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, one of only three that remained active in the area, have been arrested by Israeli soldiers, after an assault of two days.
Around a thousand Gazans have died in the offensive, according to the latest figures from the health authorities of the enclave, governed by the Islamist group. Hamaswhile some 100,000 people remain trapped in the cities of They counted, Beit Lahia y Beit Hanun.
Israel, for its part, says it has killed more than 200 fighters, arrested some 600 people and overseen the evacuation of more than 45,000 Palestinian civilians.
A new offensive
“What we are seeing in Gaza looks like the depths of hell,” said Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East. Jeremy Stoner.
“In the north, a population that is already going hungry has been without access to food for two weeks while trying to dodge bombs and bullets in an ‘annihilation zone’ that they cannot leave”he added.
On October 6, Israel launched a new ground offensive against the north of the Strip, where it claims that Hamas militants were regrouping, and has since requested the evacuation of thousands of civilians to the south of the enclave.
According to senior defense officials, asked by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israel is prioritizing the displacement of people from northern Gaza to establish settlements, instead of pressing to reach an agreement that will release the 97 hostages from October 7 who remain in the enclave.
Unofficially, the commanders on the ground would be implementing the so-called ‘generals’ plan’, proposed months ago by the retired major general Giora Islandwhich advocates forcing the evacuation of the population of northern Gaza, including through famine, and treating those who remain as militiamen.
A humanitarian source confirmed to EFE that, for weeks, only the World Food Program (WFP) Some governments already use the crossings to the north of Gaza, while the rest of the humanitarian organizations cannot introduce aid into the area.
«The entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying. “Such disregard for basic humanity and the laws of war must end.”sentenced two days ago Joyce Msuyaacting undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and UN emergency relief coordinator.
Kamal Adwan hospital, a symbol of the siege
the hospital Kamal Adwanthe only one that remained partially operational in the north until this weekend, has become the greatest symbol of the siege of northern Gaza.
This Monday, the Gaza Ministry of Health asked anyone “who has surgical skills” to join the team at the hospital, where an Israeli assault ended Saturday with most of the health personnel detained.
“After the occupation arrested and deported all medical staff at the Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, only one pediatrician remains, among all the specialties”the ministry indicated today in a statement.
At least 44 health workers and several patients were detained by Israeli forces after the siege launched on Friday against the Kamal Adwan hospital, said the regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Middle East, Hanan Balkhyafter the end of the operation.
There are still hundreds of patients, injured and displaced, in the hospital.
Israel, for its part, says it has arrested about a hundred Palestinian militants in its assault on Kamal Adwan, and that it coordinated the activation of an additional generator to supply electricity and oxygen to patients.
During the assault, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that two children had died in the intensive care unit after the hospital’s generators stopped and the oxygen station was attacked.
Among the victims of the assault is also the son of the center’s director, Husam Ash Safia.
«We have lost everything in this hospital, including our children. “Everything we have built, they have burned down.”Abu Safia declared last night in an interview with the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, trying to hold back tears.
«They are killing our children. “I buried my son next to the hospital wall,” he lamented. EFE (I)
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