Ambulances carrying victims of Israeli strikes crowd at the entrance to the emergency ward of the Gaza Citys al-Shifa hospital on Oct. 15, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
The health ministry in Gaza says at least 27 people have been killed in an Israeli strike near a UN school in the Jabalia refugee camp.
"The bodies of 27 martyrs were recovered and a large number of wounded," said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
The bombing came after 43 rabbis issued a religious decree to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it is religiously acceptable and permissible to bomb Palestinian hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip.
A document signed by the rabbis states that there was no religious or moral objection to striking hospitals when civilians are allegedly used as shields and hidden behind them, Israels Channel 14 television news reported on Thursday.
The message had now been conveyed to military units, the prime minister and cabinet members, the report added.
The greenlight came after Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari alleged that Hamas was using Shifa Hospital as a shield and conducts attacks from hospitals.
Regarding the possibility of Shifa Hospital being targeted in Gaza, Hagari stated, "In this war, all options are on the table."
In Gazas biggest hospital, al-Shifa doctors are faced with a massive influx of casualties, added to the thousands of displaced civilians taking shelter there.
On October 18, at least 500 civilians were killed by Israeli airstrikes on al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City.
At least 9,061 people have been killed since October 7, including 3,760 children and 2,326 women, Gazas health ministry. At least 32,000 people have been wounded.
Around 2,000 people are still missing in Gaza, including 1,100 children. The vast majority of these people are believed to be dead and buried under rubble.
"135 medical staff have been killed, and 25 ambulances destroyed" since the start of the war, the health ministry said, adding 16 hospitals are out of service in Gaza, and 32 medical care facilities are out of operation.
Its now the 27th day since Israel launched its war on the Gaza Strip. The regime is pounding the besieged territory from the ground, sea and air as fighting is underway between resistance groups and Israeli troops.
The UN chief decried the regimes raids. Antonio Guterres said he is appalled by the killing of Palestinians, including women and children, in Israels airstrikes on Jabalia.
Subhi Skaik, the director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, said the hospital, which mainly treats cancer patients, had used up its fuel and was now out of service.
Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila confirmed that the hospital had ceased functioning after being attacked by the Israeli military.
"The Turkish Friendship Hospital in Gaza has stopped functioning after being shelled by Israeli forces on Monday and Tuesday, and due to a complete depletion of fuel supplies," she said.
She said the hospital is the only facility dedicated to treating cancer patients in the Gaza Strip.
She cited serious threats to the lives of 70 cancer patients within the hospital, with approximately 2,000 cancer patients in the Gaza Strip as a whole.
"Al-Shifa Medical Complex will also cease its operations in less than 24 hours due to fuel depletion," she added.
The Gaza Health Ministry earlier issued an urgent final call for assistance as the al-Shifa Hospital and Indonesian Hospital faced a critical shortage of fuel on Tuesday evening. It emphasized the urgent need for intervention from the international community to save the lives of those in the hospitals.
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have repeatedly targeted hospitals, residences, mosques, and churches. Under the Geneva Convention, attacks on hospitals are strictly prohibited.
On Thursday, footage surfaced showing Israeli warplanes dropping white phosphorus bombs, which are internationally banned, on an UNRWA school located at al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza. The chemical can cause severe burns.
On the ground, heavy fighting is underway northwest of Gaza City. Israeli forces reportedly carried out raids into the Shati refugee camp, the Nasr neighborhood and Sheikh Radwan on Thursday.
The Qassam Brigades said it had targeted an Israeli air base as well as tanks and bulldozers in northwestern Gaza.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians setting fire to their vehicles and stores.
Videos showed the aftermath of the settler assaults in the village of Deir Sharaf near Nablus after the Palestinian health ministry reported the killing of three more people by Israeli troops.
At least three Palestinians were killed in separate raids in the cities of Qalqilya and Bireh.
In Bireh near the seat of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, two Palestinians, Ayham al-Shafei, 14, and Yazan Shiha, 24, were killed and two others wounded when Israeli troops opened fire during a raid.
A 19-year-old Palestinian, Qusai Quran, was killed by Israeli forces during a raid on Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, according to the ministry.
And a young Palestinian succumbed to injuries he sustained days ago during an Israeli incursion into a village near the city of Nablus. The ministry reported the death of 14-year-old Hamdan Hamdan of wounds sustained Monday by Israeli fire in a village near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
In the meantime, an Israeli soldier was killed in a Palestinian shooting operation in the West Bank. The Israeli military confirmed the killing near Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm.
For several months, the West Bank has seen increasing Israeli army raids, and attacks on Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers.
Israeli forces and settlers escorted by the regime troops have killed around 130 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7.
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