• UN food agency says half of besieged enclave’s population is starving
• Israeli army admits over 10pc of its soldiers died from ‘friendly fire’

Gaza: Israeli tanks and warplanes carried out new strikes on southern Gaza on Tuesday as the health ministry said Israeli forces were raiding a hospital in the northern of Palestinian territory.

The UN General Assem­bly, meanwhile, appeared set to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the two-month-long unrest after the United States vetoed such a move in the Security Council.

In Khan Yunis, southern Gaza’s main city which Israel troops began storming last week, residents said tank shelling was now focused on the city centre. One said tanks were operating on Tuesday morning in the street where the house of Yahya Al-Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, is located.

Further south in Rafah, which borders Egypt, health officials said 22 people including children were killed in an Israeli air strike on houses overnight. Civil emergency workers were searching for more victims under the rubble.

Storming hospital

In the north of the Palestinian territory, the health ministry said Israeli forces were raiding a hospital. “Israeli occupation forces are storming Kamal Adwan hospital after besieging and bombing it for days,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement.

Qudra said the troops were rounding up men in the hospital courtyard, including medical staff.

The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said two mothers were killed when the maternity department of Kamal Adwan hospital was reportedly hit. “The hospital remains surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks, and fighting with armed groups has been reported in its vicinity for three consecutive days,” OCHA said.

More than 18,412 Gazans have been killed and nearly 50,000 wounded since Oct 7, according to the health ministry.

In addition, the Israeli military said more than a tenth of its troops killed in Gaza were the result of friendly fire, while multiple other soldier deaths were also accidental. “To date there have been 105 deaths since the ground operations, 20 of which were accidents,” a military spokesperson said.

Gazans were battling hunger and thirst to survive, resident Mohammed Obaid said as he inspected debris in Rafah. Hunger is worsening, with the UN World Food Programme saying half of Gaza’s population is starving.

The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Tuesday limited aid distributions were taking place in the Rafah district, but “in the rest of the Gaza Strip, aid distribution has largely stopped over the past few days, due to the intensity of hostilities and restrictions of movement along the main roads”.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2023