By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

Sixty patients at Gaza hospital at risk of starving, authorities say

Dozens of wounded patients at the Indonesian Hospital in the Israeli-besieged northern Gaza are at risk of dying due to lack of food and water, Palestinian health authorities have said.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said late on Tuesday that 60 patients were “at risk of death”.

“The humanitarian situation inside the hospital has become extremely dangerous, as the wounded lack basic needs, which increases their suffering under the difficult conditions imposed by [Israeli] forces,” the ministry said in a statement.

The hospital is located in Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip, which has been under a tighter Israeli military siege since early October.

In its separate daily update on the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza, the ministry said that at least 28 people had been killed and 54 others wounded in “four massacres against families” over the last 24-hour reporting period.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them,” the ministry added.


Wounded Palestinian children are taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for medical treatment after an Israeli attack on the Maghazi refugee camp in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on December 9

Meanwhile Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, briefed members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in a closed meeting in New York on Tuesday afternoon.


Speaking to reporters after the briefing, Kaag said she told the council the situation in the Gaza Strip is “a very, very bleak picture”. “I’ve spoken of the inhumane conditions in which our fellow human being civilians are trying to survive, the young and the old,” she said.

Responding to a question from Al Jazeera on whether the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government could overshadow Israel’s war on Gaza, Kaag said she was working to keep the situation in the besieged and bombarded territory “on the map”.

Kaag also said she discussed with members of the UNSC “our hope for a ceasefire and the unconditional release of the hostages that this would enable, obviously, a further surge of assistance”.

Her comments came as Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Israeli National Security Council ministers have been briefed that Hamas has expressed an interest in reaching a ceasefire and captive deal. Channel 13 also reported that Qatar has been “playing a significant role in negotiations for the deal” after previously announcing it was suspending its role as mediator.

Speaking at the Doha Forum on Saturday, Qatari Foreign Minister and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said “momentum is coming back” to ceasefire talks. A separate ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon has largely continued to hold.

 

‘Entire days without food’

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2024/12/11/entire-days-without-food-fighting-hunger-in-gaza

Six Palestinians in Gaza describe how they struggle to feed their families amid the war.


Many families resort to using spoiled flour if they have it

With the price of a 25-kilogramme (55-pound) bag of flour soaring to more than 1,000 shekels ($280), Mohammed voiced the desperation of many. "Who can afford even a fraction of that now?" he asked.

"If this continues, we will bury ourselves alive. Death feels like the only escape," he said. "I never imagined a day when I would go hungry or watch my children starve. Stop the war. Let the flour in. How do we appeal to the world? Shame on you."



Around the Network

Israel strikes more military sites in Latakia and Tartus, Syria war monitor says

A monitor of Syria’s war says that Israeli air strikes targeted sites belonging to ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s military in the coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces.

Israeli warplanes launched air strikes targeting “military sites” including the Latakia port as well as warehouses in neighbouring Tartus province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The United Kingdom-based monitor added that “Israeli warplanes continue to destroy what remains of Syria’s military arsenal for the fourth consecutive day since the fall of the former regime”.

UN sends reinforcements to positions in occupied Golan Heights

The UN has sent peacekeeping reinforcements to Syria following the Israeli army’s decision to move across the ceasefire line, Newsweek reports, citing an anonymous UN diplomat in New York.

The diplomat was quoted as saying that the UN has reinforced a number of its positions in the occupied Golan Heights in the past 24 hours.

Currently, the diplomat said, the Israeli army had restricted the movement of peacekeeping forces in the Golan area.


Israeli soldiers remain in southern Syria, military says

Four combat groups of the Israeli army are still deployed in southern Syria, according to the military. The Israeli military said on Wednesday that a brigade combat team was responding to threats along the border and had confiscated disused Syrian army tanks.

Other units discovered an outpost of the Syrian army on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. They confiscated mines, explosives and missiles from an arms depot found at the outpost.

The Israeli military seized land in the so-called buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and neighbouring Syria after opposition forces ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at the weekend.

Satellite images reveal Russian military movements in Syria

Satellite images obtained by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit show Russian military movements at the Hmeimim airbase and port of Tartous, in addition to details of recent Israeli attacks at the port of Latakia.

Images captured by Maxar Space Systems reveal that most Russian warships departed from the Tartous naval base. Two Russian frigates were still positioned 7-12km (4.5-7.5 miles) west and northwest of the port.

Warplanes and helicopters remained in their usual positions at the Hmeimim airbase near Latakia. No major redeployment or reinforcements were noticeable.

Moscow has said it is in contact with the new Syrian leadership over the fate of its military bases in the country.

Satellite images taken on December 10 also confirmed the extent of the destruction of several missile boats following Israeli air attacks on the port of Latakia. Israel has been aiming to weaken Syrian naval capabilities and prevent any potential threats from the country following the ousting of al-Assad.



Glad we have the UN to state the obvious, will they do anything about it? Not with the US backing Israel.

UN experts say Israeli strikes on Syria against international law

Israel’s strikes on Syria following the fall of al-Assad violate international law, UN experts said, branding Israel’s attempts to “preemptively disarm” its foes as “lawless”.

Since al-Assad’s overthrow, Israel, which borders Syria, has sent troops into a buffer zone on the east of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in a move the UN has said violates a 1974 armistice. Israel’s army said it had conducted hundreds of strikes against Syrian military assets in the past two days, claiming to target everything from chemical weapons stores to air defences to keep them out of rebel hands.

“There is absolutely no basis under international law to preventively or preemptively disarm a country you don’t like,” said Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on the promotion of human rights while countering terrorism. “If that were the case, it would be a recipe for global chaos,” he told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that “lots of countries have adversaries they would like to see without weapons”.

“You can’t just follow your enemy wherever they are in the world, and bomb them in some third country, which has been Israel’s approach.”


SNA to press on after taking Manbij from Kurdish-led forces

We are in one of the areas that has been taken over by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) fighters. They say there were intense battles to take the city of Manbij from Kurdish-backed fighters, and that they will continue towards the Euphrates so that they have complete control of all areas west of the river.

According to SNA fighters, there are a number of networks of tunnels under the city of Manbij and that is why they’re operating cautiously. Manbij was strategically important for the Kurdish-led forces who had held this area since the defeat of ISIL [in 2016].

Turkiye sees the Kurdish-backed fighters as “terrorists” and wants Arab villages to be under the control of Arab fighters so that it can create a so-called buffer zone on its border. Since the fall of Syria’s al-Assad government, it seems to be closer to making that zone secure.

Far-right trend behind ‘concerning’ moves to suspend asylum claims across Europe

The decision by several European countries to suspend the assessment of Syrian asylum claims after the fall of al-Assad is a “concerning” and premature development that will create a backlog in the asylum system across Europe, an expert in migration has told Al Jazeera.

“The European asylum system decides on a negative or positive decision based on a safe country or unsafe country. For the time being, we do not really know what Syria is going to be,” said Marianna Karakoulaki, a journalist and a sociology lecturer at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

“A lot of Syrians I have spoken to told me they are extremely happy for what is happening in Syria, but at the same time they are concerned because they don’t really know what is going to happen [in the future].”

She said that many governments seem eager to consider Syria as “safe”, even though the leading Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is designed as a “terrorist” organisation in many countries, including the United Kingdom.

“It’s a bit of an oxymoron to stop people from applying and then consider the current [Syrian] government as ‘terrorists’,” she said.

Karakoulaki said she expected Syrian refugees to come under pressure to return home from countries across Europe amid an increasingly influential far right.

“This far-right trend is rising, slowly but steadily, and it’s quite concerning,” she said.



Al-Assad’s party suspends work indefinitely

Syria’s Baath party announced it was suspending work indefinitely, days after President al-Assad was removed from power, ending more than half a century of the family and party’s rule.

The Baath party central leadership has decided to “suspend party work and activity in all its forms … until further notice”, said a statement published on the website of the party’s newspaper, adding that its property and funds would be handed over to the Interior and Finance Ministries.


Syrian PM says current government to handle transitional phase of country

Syria’s caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir sent his congratulations to Syrians for the “blessed revolution after years of hardship … at the hands of the criminal regime’s gangs”.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, al-Bashir said the current government will manage the transitional phase to take over the files from ministries and institutions of the al-Assad regime.

“We met with the former government and took over the files, ministries, and institutions from the existing ministries and general directorates. Our government in northwest Syria, the Salvation Government, is the one that will assume responsibility for the ministries currently existing in the government,” al-Bashir said.


Syrian opposition leader says group will close ‘notorious prisons’

Syria’s opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also referred to as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, spoke to Reuters news agency and said he would work to dissolve the al-Assad regime’s security force and close its most “notorious prisons”.

He added that his group was working with international organisations to secure possible sites where chemical weapons may be located.

 
Interim government appointees to be announced ‘within days’, says PM

Syria’s Prime Minister al-Bashir told Al Jazeera that the full appointees of the interim government will be announced within days.

He explained that most government employees have returned to work and reiterated that the door was open for those to join the interim government, except, he said, those who were involved in “the blood of the people” would not be welcomed back.

Starting next week, schools and universities will reopen, he added.

According to HTS, the group that overthrew the Assad regime, the current transitional government is set to rule until March 2025.



IRC places Syria in its Emergency Watchlist for 2025

The International Rescue Committee unveiled its annual Emergency Watchlist on Wednesday, placing Syria fourth on its list of 20 countries most likely to face an escalating humanitarian crisis in 2025.

The move marks the first time the IRC has included Syria in its watchlist since 2021.

The global humanitarian aid organisation rated Sudan as the most severe country case, followed by the occupied Palestinian territory, where Israel has been waging an unrelenting war since October 2023, and then Myanmar.

The IRC said the humanitarian situation in Syria remains “highly uncertain” after rebel forces toppled the al-Assad regime.

“Whether the latest shifts in the conflict will allow Syrians to start rebuilding their lives in 2025 or deepen the crisis remains an open question,” it said in a media release.



UN General Assembly demands ‘immediate’ ceasefire in Gaza, supports UNRWA

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and expressed support for the work of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

The assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, which was adopted with 158 votes in favour from the 193-member assembly and nine votes against with 13 abstentions.


A second resolution expressing support for UNRWA and deploring a new Israeli law that would ban the UN agency’s operations in Israel was carried with 159 votes in favour, nine against and 11 abstentions.


That resolution demands that Israel respect UNRWA’s mandate and calls on the Israeli government “to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and uphold its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip”.


Both votes culminated two days of speeches at the UN where speaker after speaker called for an end to Israel’s 14-month war on the Palestinian territory that has killed at least 44,805 people – mostly Palestinian women and children – and wounded 106,257.

“Gaza doesn’t exist any more,” Slovenia’s UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar told the General Assembly meeting. “It is destroyed. Civilians are facing hunger, despair and death,” he said.

“There is no reason for this war to continue. We need a ceasefire now. We need to bring hostages home now,” he added.

Algeria’s deputy UN ambassador Nacim Gaouaoui addressed the world’s inability to stop the war in Gaza: “The price of silence and failure in the face of the Palestinian tragedy is a very heavy price, and it will be heavier tomorrow.”

 



Around the Network

Syria’s new government recruits for police

Syria’s incoming government has invited citizens to apply to join the police force.

In a Telegram post, the Interior Ministry announced that applicants can enrol in police academies located in Idlib or Aleppo, directing them to a Facebook questionnaire to begin the process.

Since seizing power in Damascus, the HTS-led government has made a point of trying to preserve state institutions. Interim Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said one of his first tasks would be getting such institutions back up and running

Non-HTS factions hope for representation in interim government

There is some good news for Syria’s interim government. Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Italy and Egypt have resumed their diplomatic missions in the capital Damascus. That means recognition. The interim Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said Qatar and Turkiye have promised to soon reopen their embassies in Damascus.

There is still a lot to do.

For now, the ultimate power in the country is Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani), the head of HTS. The second most powerful man is al-Bashir, the prime minister, who is also a member of HTS.

But remember there is a fragile opposition coalition. And many of the other factions are wondering whether they are going to receive a fair share of representation in the interim government. We’re waiting for the final list of ministers to be announced.


Syria’s al-Bashir promises to bring al-Assad military collaborators to justice

Syria’s new interim prime minister has pledged to protect minority rights and bring security to the country in an interview with Al Jazeera, amid reports that the tomb of Hafez al-Assad, the father of removed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was torched in Latakia.

The tomb of Hafez, who was president from 1971 until his death in 2000, was burned in his hometown of Qardaha, located in the Latakia heartland of al-Assad’s Alawite community. Bashar al-Assad succeeded him in 2000.


Syria’s new government to suspend constitution, parliament for three months

Obaida Arnaout, Syria’s new government spokesman, says “a judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments.”

Arnaout told the AFP news agency that a meeting would be held on Tuesday “between Salvation Government ministers and the former ministers” of al-Assad’s administration to carry out the transfer of power.

“This transitional period will last three months,” he added. “Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions.”

Speaking at the state television headquarters, now seized by the new rebel authorities, Arnaout pledged they would institute “the rule of law”.

“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added.

Asked about religious and personal freedoms, he said “we respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria,” adding they would remain unchanged.



What’s at stake for the Kurds in Syria?

Early in Syria’s civil war, the Kurds carved out self-ruled territory in the country’s east, setting themselves apart from al-Assad’s government and the rebels opposing it.

The Kurds defended this territory by forming the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which also includes Arab fighters. The US-backed force drove ISIL (ISIS) out of large areas of Syria, including Raqqa, the capital of their self-declared caliphate.

But Turkey, which opposes an independent Kurdish state near its borders, views the SDF’s main Kurdish faction as a “terrorist” group and has funded Syrian rebel fighters – known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) – to battle them.

With new leadership in Damascus, which the SNA has allied with, the Kurds are facing new threats to their territory.

Already, the SNA has pushed the Kurds out of the city of Manbij. Other rebel fighters claim to have captured the city of Deir Az Zor, which the Kurds briefly held after al-Assad’s forces fled, and say they will push further east.

While the rebels could still seek some kind of agreement with the Kurds to incorporate them into the new political order, that would likely require accepting a degree of Kurdish autonomy in the east. It would also risk angering Turkey, which now appears to be the chief power broker in Syria.


Semi-autonomous Kurdish authority to raise Syria’s independence flag

The Kurdish administration governing a semi-autonomous enclave in northeastern Syria has announced it will embrace the independence flag used by the opposition.

In a statement, it described the three-starred flag as a “symbol of this new stage” that “expresses the aspirations of the Syrian people towards freedom, dignity and national unity”.

The authority will “raise the Syrian (independence) flag on all councils, institutions, administrations and facilities affiliated with the Autonomous Administration”, it said.


People hold a large Syrian opposition flag at Umayyad Square in Damascus, December 9


Turkiye takes ‘preventive measures’ against ‘terrorist groups’ in Syria

Turkiye says it is taking steps against “terrorist” groups trying to exploit the security situation in Syria, the country’s Ministry of National Defense has said.

“Turkiye is taking preventive, destructive measures against terrorist groups that are trying to gain ground by taking advantage of the situation threatening the security of Syria and our region,” Zeki Akturk, the defence ministry’s spokesperson, told a weekly news conference in the capital, Ankara.

The reference is to ongoing fighting against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces who control territory in northeastern Syria.

Turkey, which opposes an independent Kurdish state near its borders, views the SDF’s main Kurdish faction as a “terrorist” group and has funded Syrian rebel fighters – known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) – to battle them.

So the US is backing resistance against Turkish interference, backing Israel's interference in bombing and land grabs of Syria and bombing Isis in central Syria themselves. What a mess.

No doubt oil plays a roll as usual



Israel raids military sites in Latakia, Tartous: Monitor

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) says the attacks targeted the port of Latakia as well as weapons warehouses in the Tartous governorate.

The raid on Tartous caused stored missiles to launch and explode, the UK-based group said.

There were raids elsewhere, too. They include:

  • Air defence sites and radars in Tartous
  • Radar site in Latakia
  • Army camps and the military airport in the city of Deir Az Zor

SOHR says it has documented more than 352 Israeli air attacks in 13 of Syria’s provinces since al-Assad’s fall on Sunday. The Israeli military earlier said it had launched more than 480 attacks in 48 hours.


Israel seizing the moment to ‘debilitate’ Syria’s defences

As we’ve been reporting, Israel has waged a major air offensive in Syria since the fall of al-Assad, hitting more than 500 targets, including airfields and weapons sites, while also seizing more territory near the occupied Golan Heights.

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and president of the US/Middle East Project, says Israel is taking advantage of the moment to “debilitate” any future Syrian authority “of its ability to defend itself”.

“I think the signal Israel thinks it’s sending is: ‘We’re here. We’re the regional policemen… We can act with impunity,'” said Levy.

For Israeli PM Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, moving Israeli forces further beyond the Golan is also a way to open up the possibility of permanent territorial gains, he added.

“Maybe Netanyahu would rather go down not as a criminal who also presided over the failure of October 7, but rather as someone who expanded Israel’s borders,” said Levy.

Israel’s attacks on Syria show its ‘changing regional role’

Israel’s response to the collapse of al-Assad’s government, including deployments in the Syria-controlled part of the occupied Golan Heights and a massive bombing campaign against the country’s military infrastructure, shows how Israel’s regional role has profoundly changed, says Rob Geist Pinfold, a scholar of international security at Durham University.

“Israel feels insecure – whether that’s true or not – and as a response to that insecurity what do they do? They take territory,” he told Al Jazeera. “We have seen that happen in Lebanon, we have seen that in Gaza, and now we’re seeing that happen in Syria.”

He added: “The irony here is that what we have in Syria is Israel basically creating a buffer zone to protect its original buffer zone which is the Golan Heights,” he added.

He also called the scale of Israeli strikes on Syria’s military infrastructure “unprecedented”.

“This shows that Israel is really changing its regional role,” he added. “Israel used to be a status-quo power … Now Israel is the revisionist power, it’s Israel that wants to change things.”




Israeli assaults ‘a mixture of both opportunism and strategy’

Since Bashar al-Assad’s dramatic flight to Moscow on Sunday, Israel has launched more than 480 air attacks on Syria, claiming this is necessary for its defence.

But it has been assaulting Syria with impunity since at least January 2013, when it bombed a Syrian weapons convoy. Since then, attacks have continued, with Israel typically claiming it was targeting positions belonging to Hezbollah and Iran.

In the process, according to observers, it has normalised for itself the idea of attacking a neighbouring state.

The attacks on Syria, said Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst with the Crisis Group, were “a mixture of both opportunism and strategy”. “I think what we’re seeing in reality is the strategy that Israel’s been developing since October 7: identify a threat or opportunity, deploy troops and then figure it out.”



Israel begins to withdraw from south Lebanon under ceasefire deal

Israel's military has begun withdrawing from south Lebanon, more than two weeks after a US-mediated ceasefire was agreed with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

US Central Command said its leader Gen Michael Kurilla was on site to oversee the withdrawal. The Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, Unifil, have replaced the Israelis in Khiam, a town which witnessed some of the most severe fighting in the war.

“This is an important first step in the implementation of a lasting cessation of hostilities and lays the foundation for continued progress,” Gen Kurilla said.

The Israeli military said its 7th Brigade had “concluded their mission in Khiam in southern Lebanon”.

Israel bombs Lebanon’s Khiam a day after withdrawing

Israel was accused of violating its ceasefire with Hezbollah, less than 24 hours after it withdraw from a strategic town in south Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Israel had bombed the town of Khiam, leading to deaths and injuries. An Israeli unit withdrew from Khiam on Wednesday and the Lebanese Army deployed to the town, under the terms of the ceasefire deal.

“These continued violations are the responsibility of the monitoring committee tasked with supervising the implementation of the ceasefire, which is required to address what happened immediately,” Mr Mikati said, referring to the US-led panel charged with overseeing the truce.



Israeli strikes on Gaza kill at least 35 Palestinians

At least 35 people were killed early on Thursday in Israeli bombings of various areas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Children and women were among seven killed when a residential building in Gaza city's Al Jalaa Street was bombed, the report said.

Another 15 were killed in the bombing of a house where displaced people were taking shelter, west of Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, the agency added.

In the western area of Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip, 13 Palestinians were killed and others were injured, according to Wafa, in a strike that hit people providing aid.

Earlier, medics said at least 30 people were also wounded in the Rafah attack, with several in critical condition. In the nearby city of Khan Younis, another group of men tasked with security for aid shipments was hit by a separate Israeli airstrike that wounded several of them, medics said.


Gaza death toll rises to 44,835, says Health Ministry

At least 44,835 Palestinians have been killed and 106,356 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza since October 7 last year the Gaza Health Ministry said. The latest toll includes 30 deaths and 99 injured people in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.


Shivering from fear or cold: Distant memories of warmth as Gazans face brutal winter

https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/12/12/shivering-from-fear-or-cold-distant-memories-of-warmth-as-gazans-face-brutal-winter/


A girl at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Al Zaywayda in central Gaza

Their bodies are more frail, their immune systems weaker and their tents drenched in rain and sewage. This year's winter is taking a more brutal toll on Gazans who have less shelter, aid and food to survive on than they did a year ago.

With 90 per cent of the enclave's 1.2 million population displaced, most with just the clothes on their back, Gazans are left exposed and scared. “Our teams on the ground wonder whether the children are shivering from the fear of bombardment or the cold,” Jonathan Crickx, Jerusalem spokesman for Unicef, the UN children's agency, told The National.

The second wartime winter is harsher, Mr Crickx said, because last year, much of Gaza's infrastructure was still standing. Now it is almost destroyed.

“When it hit Gaza last year, most of the population was displaced to Rafah,” he said. “It wasn't equipped to host so many people but you still had some buildings and schools that were turned into shelters.”

The weather isn't too bad atm in Gaza, low of 10c, high of 21c. Although 10c in a tent without proper clothes nor bedding while starving, easy to get sick that way.


Israel kills Palestinian doctor in Gaza, says Health Ministry

A Palestinian doctor was shot and killed by Israeli aircraft in northern Gaza on Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that Dr Saeed Joda was heading from Kamal Adwan Hospital to Al Awda Hospital in northern Gaza to treat some cases when he was directly targeted.

His death brings the number of those killed in Israeli attacks in the health sector to 1,057, the ministry added.

"The Ministry of Health reiterates its appeal to all international and human rights institutions to provide protection for hospitals and health teams while they carry out their humanitarian duty," it said.