Israeli forces attack hospital, prevent rescuers as northern Gaza assault continues

The Israeli military continued its bombardment of areas in and around Beit Lahia and Jabalia camp on Thursday, as the brutal siege of northern Gaza continues for a fourth week.

As part of what many believe is Israel's campaign to destroy residential and civil infrastructure in the north, referred to as the 'General's Plan', Israel repeatedly struck the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia.

As well as injuring several personnel, Israeli forces also deliberately targeted critical facilities within the hospital, including the desalination plant for the kidney dialysis department, the engineering and maintenance department, and water tanks inside the hospital, according to Al Jazeera.

Additionally, the bombing of the third floor led to the destruction of the medicine warehouse, causing a fire that destroyed medical supplies received just five days ago from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Israel has also blocked rescue teams from accessing those killed and injured.

In nearby Jabalia, the Israeli army is occupying the decimated camp to prevent civilian residents from returning to it, until the area is reshaped in line with Israeli security plans, according to The New Arab’s Arabic language sister outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed citing Israeli media.

Israeli forces have continued the large-scale demolition of houses in the camp, while preventing rescuers from accessing those trapped under the rubble.

On social media site X, Gaza-based journalist Motasem A Dalloul shared photos of houses in Jabalia being blown up by Israeli forces on Thursday, writing:

"[I]sraeli occupation forces destroy entire residential buildings in Jabalia. No paramedics or any rescue teams are there to check whether there are casualties or not! We continuously receive calls from people trapped in the blockaded refugee camp for 27 days!"

This comes as the Gaza Civil Defence said in a statement on Thursday, as seen by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that it has been forcibly shut down in all areas of the northern Gaza Strip due to the ongoing Israeli siege on the area.

The statement highlighted that thousands of Palestinians are trapped in the area without humanitarian and medical care.

The Civil Defence called for direct intervention from UN bodies to ensure the delivery of aid into the affected areas, and also called for intervention to allow the remaining rescue, ambulance and firefighting vehicles to resume work.

The statement said that Israel is indiscriminately firing at anyone, including civilians and rescue workers, who approach areas such as Beit Lahia or Jabalia.

There are potentially thousands of Palestinians, dead or alive, trapped under the rubble in northern Gaza alone.

Eid Sabah, nursing director at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, told Reuters that bodies and wounded were still under the rubble from Israel’s massacres in the town with Israel blocking rescuers from reaching them.

Israel’s continued assault on northern Gaza comes as CIA chief William Burns is expected in Cairo on Thursday to resume peace talks, according to Al-Ahram.

This comes days after Burns was in Doha for talks with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Israeli and Egyptian security officials. 

Despite the US presence and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi launching a new initiative for a ceasefire deal in Gaza, one that Hamas has said it will “study”, any deal is unlikely to occur before the US elections on 5 November.

Burns' regional visit also coincides with Israel failing to meet a US deadline on aid entry.

The US has given Israel until 12 November to "surge" all assistance or potentially face cuts to American military aid. However, aid entry to Gaza in October has fallen to its lowest level since the start of Israel's war on the Palestinian territory.

Only 852 aid lorries have crossed into Gaza this month, compared with about 3,000 lorries in September. A total of 502 have entered since the letter, with an average of 35 lorries crossing each day between 14 and 29 October.

As of Wednesday, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 43,163 Palestinians, the majority of whom are civilians, and wounded at least 101,510.