The US has warned Israel to not hearth on hospitals in Gaza and endanger the lives of sufferers and sheltering civilians, as preventing rages between Israeli troops and Hamas militants near the enclave’s largest medical amenities.

Jake Sullivan, US nationwide safety adviser, informed CBS News on Sunday that the US “does not want to see firefights in hospitals where innocent people -— patients receiving medical care — are caught in the crossfire”.

His remarks replicate rising worldwide alarm over the dire situations in Gaza’s hospitals, significantly al-Shifa, the place hundreds of individuals have sought refuge from Israel’s bombardment of the coastal enclave.

Hamas mentioned a few of the amenities have been attacked by Israeli forces and have warned of a catastrophic scarcity of important medical provides and different staples. It mentioned two newborns died in al-Shifa on Saturday after gasoline to energy the hospital turbines ran out.

Another hospital in Gaza City, al-Quds, was pressured to shut as a result of it not had sufficient gasoline and energy, the Palestinian Red Crescent introduced on Sunday.

Over the previous 36 days, the World Health Organization has recorded not less than 137 assaults on healthcare models in Gaza, leading to 521 deaths and 686 accidents, together with 16 deaths and 38 accidents of well being employees on obligation.

More than half of the hospitals within the Gaza Strip are closed. Those nonetheless functioning are below large pressure and may solely present very restricted emergency providers, the UN company mentioned.

The battles in Gaza City are the newest stage in a floor offensive Israel launched greater than two weeks in the past to remove Hamas and topple the armed group’s 16-year rule in Gaza.

The battle was triggered by Hamas’s devastating rampage by means of southern Israel on October 7, wherein its militants killed greater than 1,200 folks, largely civilians, and took about 240 hostages.

Since then, greater than 11,000 Gaza residents have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of the strip, in response to Palestinian well being officers.

Meanwhile, tentative indicators have been starting to emerge of a possible deal, brokered partially by Qatar, to launch a few of the hostages Hamas is holding.

Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, who serves because the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is in Tel Aviv, informed CBS News on Sunday that there have been “very sensitive” discussions ongoing with Doha, which hosts Hamas’s political workplace. He mentioned there was a risk of exchanging Palestinians in jail in Israel for civilians held captive in Gaza.

“A ceasefire will be very difficult without an agreement to release all hostages,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed over the weekend that armed clashes had taken place between its troops and Hamas militants round al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest medical advanced, although it mentioned they’d not fired on the hospital.

Al-Shifa has lengthy been within the IDF crosshairs. Israel claims the militant group operates out of a dense community of tunnels beneath the hospital, which Hamas denies.

Sullivan appeared to again up the IDF allegations on Sunday, saying Hamas’s use of hospitals and different civilian amenities for command and management and weapons storage was a “violation of the laws of war”.

He accused Hamas of “operating in a way that is outside the bounds of any civilised concept of how you would think about using a hospital, using human shields”.

Sullivan added that the US was in “active consultations” with the IDF over tips on how to shield sufferers in Gaza’s hospitals whereas pursuing Hamas.

On Sunday, the regional administrators of three UN businesses, together with the WHO and the kids’s fund, mentioned: “The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation and despair.”

“Decisive international action is needed now to secure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and prevent further loss of life, and preserve what’s left of the healthcare system in Gaza,” they added.

Israel has blamed Hamas for civilian casualties. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned the organisation’s militants have been stopping folks leaving the battle zone, “sometimes at gunpoint”, and had fired on the secure hall Israel created to permit Palestinians to maneuver to southern Gaza.

“The Israeli army is doing an exemplary job trying to minimise civilian casualties and maximise terrorist casualties,” he mentioned.

Israel has laid siege to the strip of two.3mn folks because the October 7 assault, permitting solely restricted support into the enclave, which is enduring meals, gasoline and water shortages. More than half the inhabitants has been displaced.

A Palestinian well being official mentioned solely al-Shifa’s A&E division had electrical energy, after the hospital ran out of gasoline to energy turbines. There was additionally no water, he mentioned, as a result of water tanks had been struck throughout the preventing.

“Hospitals are being besieged, bombed, and their patients, medical staff and displaced people being killed in full view of the entire world,” the Palestinian well being ministry in Gaza mentioned.

Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a British-Palestinian battle surgeon working at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, mentioned on Sunday that it had run out of blood. “Our wounded are dying after surgery because we cannot transfuse them,” he mentioned in a submit on X, previously Twitter.

The WHO mentioned on Sunday that it had misplaced communication with its contacts in al-Shifa. The UN company mentioned the hospital was now “surrounded by tanks”. “There are reports that some people who fled the hospital have been shot at, wounded and even killed,” it mentioned.

However, these studies have been challenged by Israeli authorities.

Colonel Moshe Tetro, head of Israel’s co-ordination and liaison administration to Gaza, referred to as studies of a siege and strikes on al-Shifa “lies”.

“Even now, anyone who wants to leave can do so,” he mentioned in a submit on X. The jap facet of the power remained open, he added.

Israel-Hamas battle: 2-minute briefing

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