ADDS MORE DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE
By Hosni Nedim
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 10 people were killed and several injured, including the acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, in Israeli airstrikes Thursday in the northern Gaza Strip, according to eyewitnesses and health sources.
The Israeli army conducted large-scale demolition operations targeting remaining buildings in several areas of northern Gaza, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
The bombings were carried out in various locations, particularly around Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals, witnesses said.
They added that the demolitions were executed using explosive "robots" planted among residential buildings, causing extensive destruction.
Dr. Mohammed Salha, the acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, along with six medical staff were injured in the bombings near the medical facility, located in the Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to health sources.
Saliha and the staff sustained minor to moderate injuries. The explosions also caused damage to parts of the hospital.
Israel's Channel 13 reported that the sounds of explosions from the demolition operations were audible in Tel Aviv and its surrounding areas.
“These Israeli crimes are clearly concentrated in residential neighborhoods, towers and blocks as the ongoing genocide by the occupation army continues in northern Gaza,” Ismail Al-Thawabta, director-general of the Government Media Office in Gaza, told Anadolu.
“After more than 80 days of relentless aggression against northern Gaza, the number of victims has exceeded 4,800, including missing persons, along with more than 12,500 injured and over 1,900 detained,” he added.
Al-Thawabta highlighted that “this ongoing Israeli aggression targets both people and infrastructure, destroying essential elements of life including hospitals, schools, homes and vital facilities.”
He called on the international community, the United Nations and all relevant parties “to urgently and immediately intervene to stop this brutal war and hold the leaders of the occupation accountable for their crimes against humanity.”
On Dec. 23, Israeli strikes in the same area caused a fire to break out at a building housing the hospital’s pharmaceutical storage facility.
Al-Awda Hospital’s administration has repeatedly indicated difficulties in providing medical services to patients and the injured due to depleted medical supplies and power outages, which have severely hampered their operations.
Israel launched a large-scale ground offensive in northern Gaza on Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent the Palestinian group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine and fuel has been allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population on the verge of imminent famine.
Israel has killed more than 45,000 people in Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by Hamas, reducing the enclave to rubble.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala and Gizem Nisa Cebi