At least 17 Palestinians, including children, lost their lives on Thursday when an Israeli airstrike targeted a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where displaced individuals had sought shelter.
The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted a Hamas command and control center located within a compound that had previously served as a school in Nuseirat.
Hopes that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar might open the door for an end to the hostilities have so far been dashed, despite growing international pressure on Israel to seize the moment.
In the northern Gaza Strip, where the area around Jabalia has been subjected to an extended military operation, the Israeli military reported evacuating large numbers of people and detaining over 200 suspected militants.
“Instead of securing a ceasefire, the war has intensified in northern Gaza. We are being starved, besieged, and hunted by airstrikes and tanks.”
On Thursday, medics at the Indonesian Hospital, one of the few operational medical facilities in the area, reported that one of their colleagues had been killed by Israeli fire and another was detained on his way to work.
Health officials from the three remaining hospitals, which are now out of medical supplies, food, and fuel, have refused to comply with Israeli orders to evacuate or abandon their patients.
The Civil Emergency Service announced that Israeli attacks on their staff had forced them to halt operations. Three emergency workers were injured, five were arrested, and their only fire truck was destroyed by tank fire.
During a news conference on Thursday, a rescue service spokesman stated that people in the affected areas had been left without access to humanitarian aid, medical care, or emergency rescue services.
The military operation in northern Gaza has sparked fears that Israeli forces are clearing the region to establish an uninhabited buffer zone or to make way for settlers who withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Israel has denied these claims, instead accusing Hamas of obstructing civilian evacuations to shield its fighters, an allegation Hamas denies.
As the conflict enters its second year, the death toll from the Israeli military campaign in Gaza is nearing 43,000, with much of the densely populated enclave in ruins and most of its population displaced.
Israel has pledged to continue its operations until Hamas is completely dismantled as a military and governing entity and the hostages are released. However, the future of Gaza remains uncertain, and international efforts to negotiate a ceasefire have stalled.
Hamas, which has yet to appoint a successor to Yahya Sinwar, stated that delegations are visiting Turkey, Qatar, and Russia while also communicating with Egypt, the United Nations, and Iran.
