‘There is no safe place left in Gaza’

AFP | Gaza                                                 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Palestinians said deadly strikes yesterday hit hospitals and a school where desperate civilians in Gaza City have sought refuge from intense combat that has sent thousands of others fleeing.

“There is no safe place left. The army hit Al-Shifa. I don’t know what to do,” said 32-year-old Abu Mohammad, who was among those seeking refuge at the hospital. “There is shooting... at the hospital. We are afraid to go out.”

Al-Shifa’s director and Gaza’s government, which reported a death toll of 13, blamed Israeli forces for a strike on the hospital. The hospital received the bodies of another 50 people killed in a strike on Gaza City’s Al-Buraq school, the Al-Shifa director said. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli snipers had also shot at Al-Quds hospital, killing at least one person.

Heavy fighting was raging near Al-Shifa hospital, with Israel saying it had killed dozens of Palestinian fighters and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas’ capacity to fight.

Bombing and gunfire

“Last night, I wasn’t optimistic that any of my children or I would come out unharmed, given the intensity of the bombing and gunfire,” said Jawad Haruda, who was among thousands walking south in an exodus away from Gaza City.

“We couldn’t wait for the morning, and everyone in Al-Shifa hospital left,” he added. Witnesses told AFP that hundreds of people sheltering at Gaza City’s Al-Rantisi hospital fled on instruction from the Israeli military, which was surrounding it with armoured vehicles. Amid the fighting, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned the health system in the Gaza Strip had “reached a point of no return”.

In Israel, medical services reported two women were wounded in rocket attacks in Tel Aviv. Hamas’s military wing said it had targeted the Israeli commercial hub.

Saudi condemnation

Meanwhile, the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, yesterday denounced the conduct of Israeli forces in Gaza, ahead of weekend summits that will focus on the unfolding violence in the Palestinian territory.

“We condemn the military aggression witnessed in the Gaza Strip, the targeting of civilians, and the continued violations of international humanitarian law by the Israeli occupation forces,” HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told a summit with African leaders.

“We stress the necessity of stopping this war and forced displacement and creating conditions for the return of stability and achieving peace.” The war has derailed progress towards a normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which HRH Prince Mohammed said in September was drawing “closer” every day.

His comments at the Saudi-Africa summit came one day before the Gulf kingdom hosts two emergency meetings of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation today. Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, also condemned the “obscene violence” afflicting Palestinians.