Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital struggles to respond to ‘massive number’ of casualties: Director
Marwan al-Sultan, the director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, has said the medical facility was facing “catastrophic conditions” amid severe shortages of fuel, medicines, oxygen and other supplies.
“North Gaza had a difficult night, and we are facing difficulty in responding to the needs of the massive number of injured and wounded,” he told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
Overnight, 82 injured people were brought to the hospital, along with 43 bodies, the director added. Ventilators and other life-saving equipment have been damaged and are largely unusable.
Palestinians gather as bodies of victims of Israeli overnight air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip are loaded in the back of a vehicle, in front of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya on March 20
Israeli army begins ground operation in northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli army has started a ground operation in the area of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, it said in a statement.
Hamas positions were attacked prior to launching the ground operation, it added.
At least 95 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that at least 95 Palestinians have been killed across the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces since dawn today.
Civil Defence unable to conduct rescue operations amid heavy aerial surveillance
The Palestinian Civil Defence says the chances that some of the injured trapped under the rubble are going to make it are very slim. Rescue operations cannot reach the affected areas, given that aerial surveillance is heavy and drones are everywhere across the Gaza Strip.
Over the past hours, we’ve also heard more heavy artillery and machineguns. According to the reports we are getting, this is happening near Salah al-Din Street, very close to the area the Israeli military has reoccupied in the past 24 hours.
This activity is making it very difficult for people to return to their homes in northern Gaza. It is even impeding the movement of people on al-Rashid Street – a major road on the other side of the Netzarim Corridor by the coast, which has been designated for people to return to northern Gaza.
But beyond preventing people from going back to their homes, the Israeli military plans to expand the corridor, which has already gone from 500 metres in width during the opening weeks of the war to 8km (5 miles) now.
The military has destroyed many buildings and an entire residential area. More expansion means more of the remaining buildings and agricultural land in the area are at risk of being bulldozed, which means people will not be able to return to that area.
‘Projectiles’ fired from southern Gaza: Israeli army
The Israeli military has said air raid sirens sounded in central Israel after “projectiles were launched from the Gaza Strip”.
In a statement, they added: “Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the areas of Gush Dan and HaShfela, three projectiles were identified crossing from southern Gaza into Israeli territory.”
In a statement Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said they “bombarded Tel Aviv with a barrage of rockets in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians”.
Israel said it intercepted one projectile and two additional projectiles fell in an open area.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/20/middleeast/hamas-fires-rockets-at-israel-first-time-since-truce-collapse-intl/index.html
Gaza’s death toll rises
Renewed Israeli attacks in Gaza, starting on March 18, have killed a total of 506 people and injured 909, reports Gaza’s Health Ministry. The majority of the victims are women and children, it says.
This brings the total casualty toll in Gaza since October 7, 2023 to 49,617, with 112,950 injured, it reports.
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