Israel and Hamas at war, day 45 | Strikes on Gaza hospital kill 12

A strike on Monday killed at least “12 patients and their relatives” and left “dozens injured” in the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

On social media, chaotic images showed several remains in the rubble of a section of the hospital.

“Around 700 patients and caregivers” are in this hospital “besieged” by the Israeli army, said the Ministry spokesperson.

On » During the day on Monday, 100 patients were evacuated from the Indonesian hospital.

THE New York Times reported Monday that the Indonesian hospital was hit around 2:30 a.m. after Israeli tanks closed in on the compound amid incessant artillery and shell fire. The origin of the strike could not be independently verified.

The Israeli military said its forces came under fire overnight “from inside the Indonesian hospital” and “directly targeted the specific source of enemy fire” in response. “No shells were fired towards the hospital,” the army said in a statement.

On Monday, 28 premature babies evacuated from al-Chifa hospital arrived in Egypt, the WHO and Egyptian state media said. The Israeli army claimed to have “helped facilitate” the evacuation of the babies from al-Chifa on Sunday.

Also on Monday, rocket fire from Gaza caused alerts and a rush of people to bomb shelters in the Tel Aviv region. Ultimately, Israeli media noted that two rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip toward central Israel and were reportedly intercepted by the “Iron Dome” and “David’s Sling” air defense systems.

In a brief message on the Hamas Telegram account, the leader of the Palestinian movement, Ismail Haniyeh, indicated Tuesday morning that the talks between Qatar, Egypt and the United States for the release of hostages in the hands of Hamas in exchange for a truce in the Gaza Strip accelerated.

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, met on Monday evening with leaders of Qatar and Mr. Haniyeh, established in the Gulf emirate, in order to “move forward on humanitarian issues linked to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza. She also insisted that her “teams be allowed to visit the hostages to ensure their well-being and to administer medication, and so that the hostages are able to communicate with their families.”

“We have never been so close, we are convinced of that. But there is still work to do. Nothing is done until everything is done,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. And to a journalist who asked him the following question: “Is an agreement to release the hostages close?” », US President Joe Biden replied in Washington: “I believe it. »

Hamas at al-Chifa hospital

On Sunday, the Israeli military released several videos appearing to show hostages being forcibly transported by armed men inside Gaza’s al-Chifa hospital. These images reportedly come from the establishment’s surveillance cameras, and date back to October 7, the day Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took some 240 people hostage.

In interview with The PressMichael Horowitz, security analyst for consulting firm Beck International, says these images, along with those broadcast by CNN of a massive tunnel beneath the hospital, begin to show the reality of Hamas’ presence in the largest hospital. of Gaza, which has been the subject of several raids by Israeli soldiers in recent days.

“This shows that the Israeli army’s accusations that Hamas is using the hospital as a base are probably correct,” he said.

In a hostage situation, groups like Hamas typically try to make sure the route taken by the hostages is difficult for their adversary to trace, Horowitz said.

“This is consistent with a permanent presence of Hamas in the hospital, a presence of which I have heard echoes for years, because the staff who dared to look where they should not are regularly threatened. »

The fact that there is no or little international reaction is “regrettable”, underlines the analyst.

“I understand that the subject is extremely delicate: there are medical teams and NGOs working on site. But it is also necessary that at a higher level, whether it is the UN or these NGOs, there is a realization and an expression of the fact that Hamas has since coming to power deliberately chosen to build its military infrastructure even within the civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip. That doesn’t justify everything. The Israeli army has a duty to protect these places. But this would make it possible to denounce one of the factors which makes this urban war in Gaza even more cruel for civilians. »

On Sunday, France 24 also broadcast an interview with a British doctor who worked at al-Chifa hospital three years ago, and who said on condition of anonymity that there were areas of the hospital where he could not go, on pain of being killed.

“I was told that there was a part of the hospital that I should not go near, and that if I did, I might get shot,” he explained, adding having seen “non-medical individuals with a dubious appearance entering and leaving continuously”.

Canadian MPs in Israel

Separately, a small group of Canadian Liberal and Conservative MPs are in Israel as part of a bipartisan trip to show solidarity with the country.

Quebec Liberal MP Anthony Housefather noted that the itinerary includes meeting with survivors of the Oct. 7 attack.

Over the weekend, 90 Canadians, permanent residents and eligible family members crossed from Gaza into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. In total, more than 450 people have been evacuated so far, Global Affairs Canada reported Monday.

With Agence France-Presse and La Presse Canadienne