- Israeli forces began the operation in the north about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping
- But so far, Israeli forces seem to have only intensified their assault, especially on the northern areas
CAIRO: Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 20 people on Wednesday as Israeli forces intensified a siege of northern parts of the Palestinian enclave, surrounding hospitals and refugee shelters, and ordering residents to head south, medics and residents said.
The Gaza health ministry and the World Health Organization said they would be unable to start a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza as planned because of the intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access.
Israeli forces began the operation in the north about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. The operation has intensified since the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar a week ago.
Israel’s allies, including the United States, have said they hoped Sinwar’s death could provide a fresh impetus for peace by allowing Israel to declare that it had achieved some of its major objectives in Gaza.
But so far, Israeli forces seem to have only intensified their assault, especially on the northern areas, where Israel says Hamas fighters are regrouping in ruins of areas that were among the first targeted by Israel’s campaign last year.
The Israeli military announced last Friday it had sent another army unit to Jabalia on the northern edge of Gaza. Residents say the troops have besieged shelters, forcing displaced people to leave while rounding up many of the men. The health ministry said at least 650 people had been killed since the new offensive began.
Of at least 20 people reported killed by Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Wednesday, 18 deaths were in northern Gaza.
The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said on Wednesday one of its staff members was killed when a UNRWA vehicle was hit in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Medics said the man’s brother was also killed. The municipality of Gaza City said two city workers were killed and three others wounded in a strike there.
Health and civil emergency officials said dozens of bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in and around Jabalia were scattered on roadsides and under the rubble where medical teams could not reach them.
Hospitals in the north have either stopped providing medical services or are hardly operating because of the offensive. Hospitals where medics have refused Israeli evacuation orders say they are running out of blood for transfusions, as well as coffins and shrouds for the dead.
“We call on the world, which has failed to provide protection and shelter for our people and has been unable to deliver food and medicine, to make an effort to send shrouds for our fallen,” the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
The polio vaccination campaign, launched after a baby was paralyzed by the disease in Gaza for the first time in 25 years, had to be halted.
“We have not been able to launch the campaign to vaccinate 120,000 children in Gaza City and northern Gaza today because of the siege and the Israeli aggression,” health ministry official Majdi Dhair said.