Crisis in the Middle East: battle at hospital points to a power vacuum in North Gaza
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has repeatedly spoken of the need to overthrow Hamas, but has done little to address the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Nowhere is that more evident than in northern Gaza, where an Israeli military attack on a major hospital complex entered its third day on Wednesday, as Israel said the re-emergence of Hamas fighters had forced it to return to a place they first visited. had stormed in November. .
The Israeli military said troops have engaged in deadly firefights with militants in the Al-Shifa complex since Monday, leaving displaced people, medical teams and local residents caught in the crossfire. On Wednesday, the army said it had killed dozens of militants in the operation and questioned or arrested hundreds of people. The report of the operation could not be independently confirmed.
Israeli military analysts say it could take months or years to implement a coherent plan for governing Gaza, and that troops would likely have had to return to Al-Shifa in the meantime. But Netanyahu’s critics say he has failed to put forward even an initially realistic proposal, leaving Palestinian citizens to bear the brunt of the costs of the disorder.
“Lives have turned into hell,” said Talal Okal, a political analyst from Gaza City who fled northern Gaza in October and is now in the United Arab Emirates.
“Netanyahu and his partners do not want to answer the question of the day after the war,” he said. “Complete chaos has ensued and the people are paying the price. But what can they do? All they can do is raise their hands and pray to God.”
Following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israeli forces launched a full-scale invasion of northern Gaza, killing Hamas militants and causing massive civilian casualties and destruction. Its soldiers first raided Al-Shifa Hospital in November after accusing Hamas of using the hospital for military purposes.
That attack on Shifa revealed a tunnel shaft made of stone and concrete under the hospital. At the time, Gaza’s health ministry said the raid had put the hospital out of service.
Soldiers withdrew from the hospital in mid-November, but returned to the area in late January and withdrew again in February.
Now that Israeli forces have shifted the focus of their invasion to southern Gaza — and Netanyahu says they will soon invade the southernmost city of Rafah — the north of the enclave is all but cut off from humanitarian aid. Lawlessness, damaged roads and attacks on convoys have prompted aid agencies to suspend deliveries there The United Nations has said many of its aid missions have been blocked by Israel. Israeli officials say there are no limits on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza.
Palestinians in the north are struggling to obtain basic services and food.
“We are alive, but we are dead,” said Rajab Tafish, 37, a resident of Gaza City. “We are exhausted from all this misery.”
Mr Tafish, a telephone repairman, said he and his family could hear “terrifying” explosions and gunfire coming from Shifa Hospital, where a relative was being treated but could no longer be reached.
He said his family sent his brother to nearby schools on Wednesday in the hope of obtaining flour.
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative said this week that 1.1 million people, half of Gaza’s population, were likely to face catastrophic food insecurity and predicted an impending rise in hunger-related deaths. In the northern areas, the report said, 300,000 people faced “threatened” famine.
Twice in the past month, attempts to distribute food ended in bloodshed, with Palestinians seeking help killed.
More than 100 people were killed in Gaza City on February 29, according to local health authorities, who said Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd gathered around aid trucks. The Israeli army acknowledged opening fire but said most of the deaths occurred when people stampeded or were run over by truck drivers.
Last week, at least 20 people were killed while waiting for help at a roundabout in northern Gaza. Officials in Gaza said Israeli forces targeted the crowd, a claim the Israeli military categorically denied.