What happened when Israel pounded areas around al-Shifa Hospital
Israeli attacks on residential buildings in the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital have resulted in further killings and injuries, Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif reports. One building on Jalaa Street was reduced to rubble, with Israeli jets and drones hovering overhead. One of the victims killed as a result of the air strikes was a young girl.
Residents and neighbours used their bare hands to try and pull out the victims from under the rubble. “For God’s sake, I have nowhere to go… all my family were killed,” a young boy is heard crying. “I have nowhere to go, for God’s sake.”
Al-Shifa Hospital and the surrounding area remain besieged by Israeli forces, resulting in a complete lack of medical assistance or activity from civil defence teams, as no ambulance or rescue teams are able to reach the area.
Israeli army says operations in central Gaza continuing
The Israeli army says it is continuing its operations in and around al-Shifa Hospital in central Gaza. It says its forces arrested 200 people suspected of acting against them and killed 20, including a person it claimed to be a senior operations director for Hamas’s internal security.
People we talked to in Gaza, however, say that he was a law reinforcement officer. No doubt he was a part of the Hamas structure, but he was essentially a policeman.
The say he played a critical role over the last few weeks, making sure that aid convoys could pass through Gaza safely and unhindered. We will have to see what his death will mean for law enforcement and for that kind of support for the aid convoys in the days ahead.
Israeli army withdraws from al-Shifa Hospital, but surrounding areas still under attack
The Israeli military withdrew from inside al-Shifa Medical Complex after storming the hospital, bulldozing the courtyard, and conducting an aggressive and extensive detailed search.
We’re getting reports of about 150 people detained from inside the hospital. At least 20 people were killed, including a top security commander who had been coordinating the efforts between Gaza clans and the UNRWA and successfully secured the delivery of aid trucks within the past two days to Gaza City and northern Gaza.
Killing this security commander will result in chaos. This has shattered the sense of safety and security for other people to continue coordinating this kind of work to deliver aid to these areas.
Air strikes continue in the vicinity. Residential buildings are being relentlessly bombed. We’ve heard of two buildings at the northern gate of al-Shifa Hospital being completely destroyed. We’ve also heard from the southern part of the complex of one more residential building attacked, and a mosque to its west.
New Israeli air raid on Gaza City
Israeli air strikes have hit Gaza City’s Yarmouk neighbourhood. The area is crowded with residential homes and buildings. The targeted location has not yet been determined. Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows plumes of smoke rising above numerous high-rise buildings in the area in the aftermath of the strikes.
Director of police investigations in northern Gaza killed
An Israeli air attack has killed the director of police investigations in northern Gaza along with his wife after their house was targeted this morning. Raed al-Banna was responsible for securing and facilitating the entry of aid trucks into northern Gaza.
On Monday, Israeli forces killed the head of the police force, Faiq Mabhouh, who was also responsible for coordinating aid trucks into northern Gaza. The killings come after a failed attempt by Israel to force heads of clans in Gaza to take up that responsibility.
Israeli military says it killed over 50 fighters in al-Shifa Hospital
In its latest update, the Israeli military says its troops are still operating within al-Shifa Hospital, where they claim to have killed more than 50 fighters, confiscated weapons and detained 180 people.
The military says it caused no “harm to civilians, medical staff, and medical equipment” in the process. The Wafa news agency reports the latest round of Israeli attacks throughout Gaza have also killed and injured dozens of Palestinian civilians.
This includes a young girl in the vicinity of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif. Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul was detained for 12 hours and severely beaten up by Israeli forces after being arrested at the hospital.
Setting the building on fire is no harm? Fighters are every male older than 12...
Palestinians await scarce flour deliveries in Gaza City
Footage posted by Wafa news agency shows a large crowd of Palestinians in Gaza City waiting to pick up flour at a UN centre.
More than 70 percent of people in northern Gaza are dealing with “catastrophic hunger”, according to a recent UN-backed report, with some people resorting to eating animal feed or weeds to survive.
Gazans wait to receive flour at a UNRWA centre in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City, as the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave worsens. pic.twitter.com/UukJG0rFbW
— Wafa News Agency - English (@WAFANewsEnglish) March 19, 2024
Gaza death toll climbs
At least 31,819 people have been killed and 73,934 wounded by Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 7, according to the latest figures shared by the Health Ministry. The statement added that 93 people were killed and 142 wounded in the past 24 hours.
