Israeli troops battle militants across north Gaza, which has been cut off from services for weeks

DEIR EL-BALAH – Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in a dense, city refugee camp on Tuesday as they expanded operations across northern Gaza, the place citizens have been with out electrical energy, water or get right of entry to to humanitarian assist for weeks.

The entrance line of the war, now in its seventh week, has shifted to the Jabaliya camp, a dense warren of concrete structures close to Gaza City that properties refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s advent and their descendants. Israel has been bombarding the world for weeks, and the army mentioned Hamas warring parties have regrouped there and in different jap districts after being driven out of a lot of Gaza City.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli army spokesman, mentioned overdue Monday that Israeli forces had a “full grasp” on Jabaliya and have been beginning to dismantle a Hamas brigade there. It was once now not imaginable to independently ascertain main points of the preventing.

Footage launched via the army in fresh days presentations squaddies and tanks working in dense city neighborhoods the place just about each and every construction seems to be broken or destroyed.

The battle sparked via Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attack into Israel has exacted a heavy toll on Palestinian civilians, specifically those that stay within the north after Israel many times referred to as on folks to escape south. Israeli forces cut off the north of their flooring invasion overdue final month, even though tens of hundreds have since fled south via corridors introduced via the army.

It’s unclear what number of people stay within the north, however the U.N. company for Palestinian refugees estimates that some 160,000 persons are nonetheless in its shelters there, although it’s not ready to supply services. Some 1.7 million Palestinians, about 3 fourths of Gaza’s inhabitants, have fled their properties.

Hundreds of hundreds of folks have packed into U.N.-run colleges and different amenities across southern Gaza that now function shelters. As they have got overflowed, folks have been pressured to sleep at the streets out of doors, with little safe haven from wintry weather rains that experience hit the area in fresh days.

Across Gaza, there are shortages of meals, water and gasoline for turbines to energy fundamental infrastructure. There has been a territory-wide blackout since Israel cut off gasoline imports originally of the battle.

Israel continues to strike what it says are militant objectives across Gaza, together with within the southern evacuation zone, frequently killing ladies and youngsters, and officers have mentioned it may soon expand its operations in the south.

FIGHTING AROUND HOSPITALS

Tens of hundreds of Palestinians within the north had sheltered in hospitals, however the ones have often been emptied out because the preventing has reached their gates, and maximum are not operational.

Marwan Abdallah, a scientific employee on the Indonesian sanatorium close to Jabaliya, mentioned heavy preventing out of doors its gates on Tuesday avoided ambulances from bringing wounded folks in for remedy. “The situation is worsening hour by hour,” he said.

Palestinian officials said an Israeli shell struck the hospital early Monday, killing 12 people. Israel denied shelling the hospital, but said its troops returned fire on militants who targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre (1.4 hectare) compound.

Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said roughly 200 wounded patients and their companions were evacuated from the hospital to southern Gaza on Monday in a rescue effort coordinated by the U.N. and the International Committee for the Red Cross.

Between 400 and 500 wounded remain at Indonesia Hospital, Ashraf told Al-Jazeera television. Some 2,000 displaced Palestinians also are sheltering there.

A similar standoff played out in recent days at Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, which has been at the heart of warring narratives over Hamas’ alleged use of civilian infrastructure. Israel has provided some evidence in recent days of a militant presence at the hospital but has yet to substantiate its claims that Hamas had a major command center beneath the facility.

Hamas and hospital staff have denied the Israeli allegations. Health workers say scores of critically ill and wounded patients as well as medics are still stranded at Shifa after 31 premature babies were successfully evacuated to hospitals in Egypt and southern Gaza. Israeli forces entered the hospital last week after days of heavy battles outside its gates.

Michael Ryan, a senior World Health Organization official, said Monday that care for complex medical cases – including most cancer and kidney dialysis patients – is no longer available in Gaza and that remaining hospitals would likely be overwhelmed by some 5,500 births expected in the next month.

“The hospital situation – the primary health care system situation – in Gaza is catastrophic and it is the worst you can imagine (in the) north,” he said.

RISING TOLL

More than 12,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank. Officials there say another 4,000 are missing. Their counts do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants.

The Palestinian Health Ministry bases its count on information gathered by its counterpart in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has been unable to fully update casualty figures for more than 10 days because of the breakdown in services and communications in the north.

About 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mainly civilians during the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas dragged some 240 captives back into Gaza. The military says 68 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza ground operations.

TALKS ON HOSTAGE RELEASES

Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks over a hostage release that would be paired with a temporary cease-fire and the entry of more humanitarian aid.

Hamas has released four hostages, Israel has rescued one, and the bodies of two were found near Shifa.

Izzat Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said Tuesday that an agreement could be reached “in the coming hours,” in which Hamas would release captives and Israel would release Palestinian prisoners. Hamas’ leader in exile Ismail Haniyeh also said they were close to a deal, but similar predictions in recent weeks have proven premature.

Israel’s three-member war Cabinet met with representatives of the hostages’ families Monday evening. A relative of a hostage said the officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told families the government considers the release of hostages and the defeat of Hamas to be “equally important.”

Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi is in captivity in Gaza, mentioned that was once “incredibly disappointing” for the families, as Israel has said it could take months to dismantle the militant group.

“We will not stop fighting until we bring the hostages home, destroy Hamas and ensure that there is no more of a threat from Gaza,” Netanyahu mentioned on social media after the assembly.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press creator Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

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Full AP protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.