The Israeli aggression on Gaza proceeds for day 174, amid catastrophic conditions and warnings by international bodies that “time is running out” to prevent famine in the besieged enclave. However, US-based war monitors report that the resistance in Gaza maintain “significant combat effectiveness.”
Israeli attacks went ahead on Thursday, with bombardment targeting several areas across Gaza. The Health Ministry in the enclave put the death toll since the start of the aggression at 32,552, adding that the Israeli attacks on Gaza have also wounded at least 74,980 people.
Catastrophic Conditions at Gaza Hospitals
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday that only 10 out of 36 hospitals remain operational in the Gaza Strip, after the al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis ceased functioning on Tuesday.
“The health system is barely surviving,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
With only 10 out of 36 hospitals partially functioning, the health system in #Gaza is barely surviving.
On 26 March, @PalestineRCS’ Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis ceased functioning as a result of sustained hostilities in and around the facility.
Once more, @WHO demands an…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 28, 2024
In northern Gaza, doctors sound alarm on infant malnutrition. At Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, receiving malnourished infants into the intensive care unit has become a new normal.
At least 27 children have died of starvation, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, after a six-year-old boy, Mohammed Naeem Al-Najar, died of starvation today at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Famine
Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has once again warned that time is running out to avert famine in the Gaza Strip.
“Restrictions must be lifted now,” it said on X, saying that “the clock is ticking fast towards famine”.
“Our food convoys are prevented from reaching the north, where famine is imminent,” UNRWA said.
The clock is ticking fast towards famine in #Gaza 📍@UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response in the #GazaStrip, and yet our food convoys are prevented from reaching the north, where famine is imminent.
Time is running out. Restrictions must be lifted now. pic.twitter.com/H1TccPqNro
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) March 28, 2024
“Significant Combat Effectiveness”
On the other hand, two US-based think tanks assessed that Palestinian resistance fighters have carried out almost 70 attacks against Israeli forces in the vicinity of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City since March 18, when the Israeli military returned to the area.
“This high rate of attack indicates that Palestinian militias retain a significant degree of combat effectiveness in the area, despite continued Israeli clearing efforts around Gaza City,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) said in their latest Gaza battlefield assessment.
NEW | Israeli forces continued operating in and around al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Palestinian militias have conducted nearly 70 attacks targeting Israeli forces in and around the hospital since Israeli forces returned to the area on March 18. (1/11) pic.twitter.com/q08C8fwioE
— Critical Threats (@criticalthreats) March 27, 2024
The US-based think tanks said at least six armed Palestinian groups are battling Israeli forces deployed around Al-Shifa Hospital.
“Despite Israel completing a “clearing operation” in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood on March 3, Israeli forces returned to the area on Wednesday, a move which suggests Palestinian fighters continue to operate there as they do elsewhere in Gaza City,” according to the latest ISW/CTP report.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
