An official at a hospital in northern Gaza is sounding the alarm as the building faces Israeli bombardment “from all directions” after being ordered to evacuate, while ceasefire negotiations continue.Â
One of Gaza’s few still partially functioning hospitals sits in an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months. It sought urgent help after being hit by Israeli fire.
“We are facing a continuous daily threat,” Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said Monday. “The bombing continues from all directions, affecting the building, the departments and the staff.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.Â
Meanwhile, at least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across the enclave on Monday, medics said.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Israel says its operation around the three communities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia — is targeting Hamas militants.
Tom Fletcher, the aid chief for the United Nations, said Israeli forces had hampered efforts to deliver much-needed aid in northern Gaza.
“North Gaza has been under a near-total siege for more than two months, raising the spectre of famine,” he said Monday.
“South Gaza is extremely overcrowded, creating horrific living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter sets in.”
Gaps appear to narrow in truce deal
Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to remarks by Israeli and Palestinian officials on Monday, although crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
A fresh bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, although no breakthrough has yet been reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in ongoing hostage negotiations with Hamas in Gaza but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.
Talks to broker a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas have restarted in Cairo, and sources close to negotiations say an agreement could be signed in coming days. Palestinians in southern Gaza say they hope this round of talks will see the war ending so life can resume.
During a speech in Israel’s Knesset, Netanyahu said Israel had made “great achievements” militarily on several fronts and that military pressure on Hamas had led its leaders to soften their previous demands.
The prime minister, in between heckles from opposition members, said Israel had solidified its stance as a “regional power.”
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said while some sticking points had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the precise deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.
The duration of the ceasefire has been a fundamental sticking point throughout several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel wants an end to Hamas’s rule of Gaza first.
“The issue of ending the war completely hasn’t yet been resolved,” said the Palestinian official.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.