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An official at a hospital in northern Gaza has sounded the alarm as the building comes under Israeli bombardment “from all directions” after being ordered to evacuate as ceasefire talks continue.
One of the few hospitals in Gaza that is still partially functioning is located in an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for almost three months. He called for emergency help after being hit by Israeli fire.
“We are facing a continuous daily threat,” Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said on Monday. “The bombing continues from all directions, hitting the building, departments and staff.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Meanwhile, at least 11 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave on Monday, doctors said.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently empty northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Israel says its operation around three communities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip – Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia – is targeting Hamas militants.
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations humanitarian aid chief, said Israeli forces were hampering efforts to deliver much-needed aid to northern Gaza.
“Northern Gaza has been under almost total siege for more than two months, increasing the specter of famine,” he said on Monday.
“Southern Gaza is extremely overcrowded, creating dire living conditions and even greater humanitarian needs as winter approaches.”
The gaps seem to be narrowing in the truce deal
Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials on Monday, although key differences have yet to be resolved.
A fresh effort by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and free Israeli and foreign hostages gained momentum this month, although no progress has yet been reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that progress had been made in ongoing hostage negotiations with Hamas in Gaza, but that he did not know how long it would take to see results.
Talks to broker a cease-fire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas have resumed in Cairo, and sources close to the talks say the deal could be signed in the coming days. Palestinians in southern Gaza say they hope this round of talks will lead to an end to the war 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 moderate their previous demands.
The prime minister, between jabs at opposition members, said that Israel had strengthened its position as a “regional power”.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks said that while some concerns had been resolved, the identity of some of the Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in exchange for hostages had yet to be agreed, along with the exact deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza.
The duration of the truce was a major sticking point during several rounds of failed negotiations. Hamas wants an end to the war, while Israel first wants an end to Hamas’ rule in Gaza.
“The issue of ending the war completely has not yet been resolved,” the Palestinian official said.
The war was triggered by an October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
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 have been displaced, and much of Gaza is in ruins.
