Israeli tanks have surrounded the al-Rantisi hospital complex in Gaza City after another night of heavy bombings that targeted civilian infrastructure, including hospitals escalating the situation in Gaza to alarming levels. The impact of these attacks has been devastating, with reports stating that over 50% of housing units across Gaza have been damaged.
The Israeli army has also conducted nightly raids in the occupied West Bank, further exacerbating the tense situation in the region. This comes after one of the deadliest incursions since the start of the Gaza war. The ongoing violence has resulted in a high death toll, with at least 10,812 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the death toll stands at more than 1,400.
In an attempt to address the dire humanitarian situation, the White House has announced that Israel has agreed to a daily four-hour pause in fighting. This pause is intended to allow Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, where the situation is particularly dire. However, there has been scepticism and resentment expressed on social media across the Arab world towards this announcement. Some view it as a strategy to ethnically cleanse Gaza and to rescue hostages, Reuters reported.
The United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Turk, has called for an investigation into Israel’s use of “high-impact explosive weapons” in Gaza. Turk has expressed concerns about the indiscriminate destruction caused by these weapons in the densely populated area, which is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have been displaced due to the recent fighting.
The situation in Gaza is dire, with reports of hospitals being targeted and rendered out of function. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that al-Shifa Hospital, one of the main medical facilities in Gaza, is coming under bombardment. The intense violence has resulted in casualties, including children, and has created a dire humanitarian crisis.