
Image source, Getty Images
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- Author, David Gritten
- Author's title, BBC News
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The Israeli army claims to have warned the medical authorities and international organizations that are prepared for the planned evacuation of the million inhabitants of the city of Gaza after the start of an offensive to occupy it.
They were informed that “adjustments” were being made to hospitals in southern Gaza to receive patients, according to a statement.
The Ministry of Health of Gaza, directed by Hamas, rejected “any measure that SOCAVE is left of the health system” of the Strip. The UN and humanitarian aid organizations have also promised to stay to help those who cannot or decide not to move.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians said that strong bombings had occurred in the eastern areas of the city, a day after the army announced having taken the first steps of the offensive.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamín Netanyahu, met Thursday with security officials to approve military plans to take the city, despite the wide international and national opposition.
Netanyahu announced Israel's intention to conquer the entire Gaza Strip after the failure of indirect conversations with Hamas about a high -fire and hostage -release agreement last month.
The Israeli president said Thursday that he ordered that new negotiations for the liberation of all the remaining hostages and the end of the war in Gaza be initiated in “acceptable for Israel.”
Image source, Reuters
Evacuations
The Israeli army plans to evacuate the entire population of the city of Gaza and transfer it to shelters in the south of the strip before the troops advance towards the largest urban area of the territory.
As part of their preparations, COGAT military officers had made initial alert calls to medical officials and international organizations.
“The officers emphasized medical officials that adjustments in hospital infrastructure are being made in the south of the strip to receive the sick and injured, together with an increase in the entrance of the necessary medical team,” according to a statement.
“We will provide them with a place to stay, be it a campaign hospital or any other hospital,” they were told in the calls.
However, the Gaza Ministry of Health expressed its “rejection to any measure that is left what remains of the health system after the systematic destruction that the occupation authorities (Israelis) have been carrying out.”
“Such a measure would deprive more than one million people from their right to receive medical treatment and expose the life of residents, patients and injuries to an imminent danger,” he warned.
Eighteen of the 36 hospitals of Gaza currently work partially, according to the UN. Eleven of them are in the governorate of the city of Gaza and one in the Government of Northern Gaza.
The UN and non -governmental organizations warned earlier this week that an Israeli offensive in Gaza would have a “tremendous humanitarian impact.”
“We reiterate our commitment to serve people wherever they are and continue present in the city of Gaza to provide vital support,” they said.
They also warned that southern hospitals were “operating at a level of capacity greater than usual, and that accepting northern patients would have mortal consequences.”
Motasem Dalloul, a journalist in the city of Gaza, told the BBC that he had seen and heard multiple Israeli air attacks there on Thursday.
From time to time, combat planes carry out attacks that destroy homes and other facilities, mainly in the east of the city of Gaza, in the neighborhoods of Zeitún and Sabra, he said.
The Civil Defense Agency, directed by Hamas, reported that at least 48 people died on Thursday because of Israeli attacks and shooting in Gaza, including 8 in Sabra.
Dalloul also indicated that a large number of Israeli drones flew over the area.
Some transmitted messages to residents, urging them to evacuate “safe areas” in southern Gaza, he added. However, he questioned that these areas were safe, stating that people were being killed “in every corner” of the southern strip.
“Many people intend not to leave the city,” he said. “They believe that if they are going to kill us, they kill us in our homes.”
The voice of the people
Image source, Reuters
Hundreds of people also joined a demonstration in the city of Gaza to demand the end of the war and reject Israel's plan to force more displacements.
“We are exhausted. We die a thousand times a day. We don't want to leave, we want to stay here,” Bissan Ghazal told the BBC. “They stop blood spill. It's enough.”
Umm Abdul Rahman Hajjaj expressed his desire to communicate to the negotiators of Hamás Hamas: “We demand the immediate end of the war, because the longer it extends, the greater the number of martyrs, wounded and prisoners.”
In Tel Aviv, relatives of Israeli hostages who are still in the possession of Hamas urged their government to accept the proposal of high fire agreement to repatriate some of their loved ones.
“There is an agreement on the table. This is the opportunity we need for a comprehensive agreement. We must sign it immediately,” said Dalia Cusnir, sister -in -law of the hostage Eitan Horn and the exrehén released from Iair Horn.
“Time ends. Hostages cannot survive much longer in the hands of these brutal captors. We cannot bear more fighting.”
A new agreement
Image source, Reuters
The mediators, Qatar and Egypt, try to reach an agreement to avoid the offensive and have submitted a new proposal for a 60 -day truce and the release of approximately half of the 50 hostages, a proposal that Hamás claimed to have accepted on Monday.
Israeli officials said they will no longer accept a partial agreement and have demanded an integral one that allows the liberation of all hostages. It is believed that only 20 of them are still alive.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, said it was “vital” to reach a high immediate fire and avoid what he called the “inevitable death and destruction” that would cause a new operation in the city of Gaza.
On Wednesday, an Israeli military spokesman said that the preliminary actions of the offensive in the city of Gaza had begun and that the troops already controlled the outskirts of the town.
Netanyahu's office said he had “ordered that the deadlines to take control of the last terrorist bastions and defeat Hamas.”
Hamas accused the Israeli leader of continuing a “brutal war against innocent civilians in the city of Gaza” and criticized his “contempt” for the proposal of Alto El Fuego.
The Israeli army launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people died and another 251 were taken as hostages.
At least 62,192 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Ministry of Health of the Territory.
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