The battle around Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa ….
- The Israeli military has denied accusations it’s attacked Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa – but has acknowledged “clashes” with Hamas fighters in the area
- A surgeon at Al-Shifa earlier told the BBC the facility had run out of water, food and electricity – and that the intensive care unit had been struck
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating from tunnels underneath the hospital, which Hamas denies
- Israel says it has established a corridor for people to flee Al-Shifa, and will help evacuate babies to a “safer hospital” on Sunday
- The charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says hospitals in the Gaza Strip more widely have been under “relentless bombardment” for the last 24 hours
- Israel began striking Gaza after the Hamas attacks on 7 October, which saw 1,200 people killed and more than 200 taken hostage
- The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since – of whom more than 4,500 were children……
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Update…
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu turns thumbs down on the Biden admin effort’s to ‘jaw-bone’ some moderation in the Hamas/Israeli conflict…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday against growing international calls for a cease-fire, saying Israel’s battle to crush Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants will continue with “full force.”
A cease-fire would be possible only if all 239 hostages held by militants in Gaza are released, Netanyahu said in a televised address.
The Israeli leader also insisted that after the war, now entering its sixth week, Gaza would be demilitarized and Israel would retain security control there. Asked what he meant by security control, Netanyahu said Israeli forces must be able to enter Gaza freely to hunt down militants.
He also rejected the idea that the Palestinian Authority, which currently administers autonomous areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, would at some stage control Gaza. Both positions run counter to post-war scenarios floated by Israel’s closest ally, the United States. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the U.S. opposes an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and envisions a unified Palestinian government in both Gaza and the West Bank at some stage as a step toward Palestinian statehood.
For now, Netanyahu said, “the war against (Hamas) is advancing with full force, and it has one goal, to win. There is no alternative to victory.”….