Medical facilities face critical collapse in the south
Published: 04:01 PM,Jan 28,2024 | EDITED : 08:01 PM,Jan 28,2024
Palestinians flee Khan Younis, due to the Israeli ground operation, move towards Rafah. — Reuters
GAZA: Medical facilities are at risk of collapse in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza city now at the focus of Israel's offensive, the Gaza Health Ministry warned on Sunday, as fighting raged across the Palestinian enclave.
Residents said Israeli planes and tanks also pounded areas in Gaza City to the north, where Israel has slowly been pulling out troops. The fighting could be heard in the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, near to Gaza City.
The Palestinian fighters clashed with Israeli troops in several areas across the enclave overnight. Resistance movement Hamas' armed wing said its fighters destroyed two Israeli tanks in Khan Younis.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 wounded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total killed in Israeli strikes since the war began to 26,422.
Palestinian medics and residents said Israel continued to bomb areas around the two main hospitals in Khan Younis, hindering efforts by rescue teams to respond to desperate calls from people caught in the Israeli bombardment.
'There is a complete failure of the healthcare system at Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals,' said Qidra.
Israel says it takes steps to avoid civilian casualties, but accuses Palestinians of operating in densely populated areas, including those around hospitals, and using civilians as human shields. It has claimed to release photos and videos supporting this allegation, which the Palestinian groups deny.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that medical teams at Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis would be unable to perform surgeries because oxygen supplies were depleted.
More families were displaced from Khan Younis on Sunday. Some people took dirt roads to get closer to the city of Rafah along the border with Egypt or Deir Al-Balah to the north. Others headed west to an area called Al-Mawasi where residents described being crammed into a small area.
'It is as crowded as it can get,' said electrician Abu Raouf, a father of four. 'People have lost their ability to think, their ability to feel, they are moving like robots, it is just a matter of time before Israel sends tanks into here as well, there is no place safe.'
Reem Abu Tair left Khan Younis in the cold with three children, one of them an infant.
'We managed to save our lives, we escaped bombings and the destruction that is surrounding us only to end up in the cold. So, if a child does not die from the bombing, he will die from the cold,” Abu Tair said. — Reuters
Residents said Israeli planes and tanks also pounded areas in Gaza City to the north, where Israel has slowly been pulling out troops. The fighting could be heard in the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, near to Gaza City.
The Palestinian fighters clashed with Israeli troops in several areas across the enclave overnight. Resistance movement Hamas' armed wing said its fighters destroyed two Israeli tanks in Khan Younis.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 wounded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total killed in Israeli strikes since the war began to 26,422.
Palestinian medics and residents said Israel continued to bomb areas around the two main hospitals in Khan Younis, hindering efforts by rescue teams to respond to desperate calls from people caught in the Israeli bombardment.
'There is a complete failure of the healthcare system at Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals,' said Qidra.
Israel says it takes steps to avoid civilian casualties, but accuses Palestinians of operating in densely populated areas, including those around hospitals, and using civilians as human shields. It has claimed to release photos and videos supporting this allegation, which the Palestinian groups deny.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that medical teams at Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis would be unable to perform surgeries because oxygen supplies were depleted.
More families were displaced from Khan Younis on Sunday. Some people took dirt roads to get closer to the city of Rafah along the border with Egypt or Deir Al-Balah to the north. Others headed west to an area called Al-Mawasi where residents described being crammed into a small area.
'It is as crowded as it can get,' said electrician Abu Raouf, a father of four. 'People have lost their ability to think, their ability to feel, they are moving like robots, it is just a matter of time before Israel sends tanks into here as well, there is no place safe.'
Reem Abu Tair left Khan Younis in the cold with three children, one of them an infant.
'We managed to save our lives, we escaped bombings and the destruction that is surrounding us only to end up in the cold. So, if a child does not die from the bombing, he will die from the cold,” Abu Tair said. — Reuters