Israeli planes – according to intelligence information – killed 3 Hamas company commanders in the north of the Strip. Israeli forces also bombed and surrounded the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12 people according to Hamas. Previously the Palestinian media had reported 8 victims, including patients and people seeking shelter. Local news reports say that the power has gone out in the hospital and that Israeli forces are shooting anyone who tries to leave the facility. Hamas said that, in addition to the twelve dead, there were also dozens injured. “The Israeli army is besieging the Indonesian hospital and we fear that the same thing will happen there as in al Shifa”, another recently evacuated hospital, underlined the spokesperson of the Hamas Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidreh.
China willing to work for peace
China is willing to work to help “restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible” and “to rapidly cool the situation in Gaza.” This is what Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in his opening speech in Beijing on the occasion of the meeting with a delegation of diplomats from Arab and Muslim-majority countries, announced surprisingly on Sunday. Those present include the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Indonesia, Egypt and Palestine, as well as the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Hostages from the Kabbutz raid taken to Al Shifa
Some hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October were taken to the al Shifa hospital, under whose complex not only a tunnel ten meters deep but also a militia control room on level -2 of one of the buildings were discovered. This was announced by the Israeli army, which released a video in which two of the kidnapped people can be seen inside the health facility. There where the soldier Noa Marciano would also find her death. Illustrating the results of days and days of extensive searches and investigations inside and outside the hospital campus is military spokesman Daniel Hagari, with the entire area continuing to remain under the spotlight of the Israeli armed forces with the aim of finding new evidence.
The hostages appearing in the video have been identified: they are “a Nepalese and a Thai”, forcibly dragged into the hospital and filmed by surveillance cameras “between 10.42 and 11.01″ on 7 October. While the tunnel built by the militiamen and discovered by the Israeli soldiers is 55 meters long under the hospital complex. It is accessed via a deep staircase, and is equipped with various defense systems, including an anti-explosive door and a hole for shooting outside. The discovery was made under a shed, next to a vehicle containing numerous weapons including grenade launchers, explosives and Kalashnikov rifles.” The tunnel is still largely unexplored and Israeli soldiers continue to search its path.
The UN: “Hospital a death zone”
The WHO has defined the hospital as a “death zone” and has announced its intention to evacuate all patients (291) and healthcare personnel (25 workers), while the 31 children born prematurely have already left – according to general director of the hospital, Mohammad Zaqout – accompanied “by three doctors and two nurses”.
Israel controls the north of the Strip
On the ground, the Israeli armed forces are increasingly consolidating control of the northern part of the Strip, and the army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, has approved plans for the continuation of the ground operation. Palestinian and Hamas sources have announced that new Israeli raids have caused dozens of victims.
Netanyahu attacks the PA
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has once again attacked the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), claiming that “the Palestinian Foreign Ministry has published a shocking statement in which it denies that Hamas is responsible for the terrible massacre at the rave in Kibbutz Reim, attributing it to Israel”. A controversy that arises from a Haaretz article which cites police sources – which he denied – according to which “an Israeli helicopter accidentally hit some festival participants while shooting at terrorists”.
Finally, tension is very high in the West Bank and on the border with Lebanon
Finally, tension in the West Bank and on the border with Lebanon still remains very high. In the Strip, according to the Hamas health ministry, deaths from Israeli attacks have reached 13,000, including more than 5,500 minors and 3,500 women.