Is Israel’s military strategy to eliminate Hamas working?
The Gaza Strip is on the verge of re-entrance: Where is the hospital? Where are the hostages? How quickly can Israel remove the Hamas militants?
The military strategy of the ground invasion included the seizure of the biggest hospital in the Gaza Strip and freeing hostages who had been held by Hamas.
And although the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said in a video statement on Monday that Israel had “accelerated our activities against the tunnels” and that Hamas militants had lost control in the north and were fleeing south, military analysts said Mr. Gallant’s statements raised many questions.
U.S. military officials said their Israeli counterparts tell them to expect more weeks of clearing operations in the north before Israel prepares a separate initiative in southern Gaza, widening the offensive.
The spokesman of the Israeli military said late Friday that their troops would continue their offensives in the south of the strip.
How will Hamas be eliminated if its fighters blend into the rest of the population as they head south? How long can Israel, which lost about 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 atrocities, sustain growing international pressure for a cease-fire as civilian casualties in Gaza mount? Most immediately, was Al-Shifa an important enough military target to raid?
There is a pile of medical and solid waste in the corridors of Gaza’s largest hospital. A mass grave with at least 80 bodies is by the hospital’s entrance.
A joint United Nations humanitarian assessment team, led by the WHO, gained the first outside access to Al-Shifa hospital Saturday and saw first hand the dire circumstances of the facility, the groups said. The only time the team could see the hospital was for an hour.
According to the WHO several patients have died in the past two to three days due to medical services shutting down in the facility. There are only 25 health workers left for 902 patients including 32 premature babies who are in critical condition.
The IDF ordered the last 2,500 people to leave the Al-Shifa’s hospital grounds. The WHO said that the military evacuated the civilians, patients and hospital staff by the time the U.N. team arrived.
There were over 200 people kidnapped during the attacks on Israel by Hamas. Negotiations over a possible cease-fire that would allow people in Gaza to move about safely and for hostages to be handed over back to Israel is still in the works.
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson disputed a report by The Washington Post that said a deal between the U.S., Israel and Hamas had been reached.
The UN has said that it has received the first outside access to Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al-Shifa Hospital, which was recently seized by Israel. A UN humanitarian assessment team visited the hospital on Saturday and saw first hand the dire circumstances of the facility, the groups said. Israel had ordered 2,500 people to leave the hospital grounds by the time the team arrived.