At least six people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza amid a new so-called evacuation order issued by Israeli forces in a Gaza City suburb.
On Sunday, Israeli attacks have so far killed one person in Nuseirat and two in Maghazi, both in central Gaza, as well as three people in Rafah, southern Gaza.
In northern Gaza, which Israeli forces have besieged since early October, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the Kamal Adwan Hospital was attacked, injuring its director, Hussam Abu Safia.
In a video circulated by the ministry on Sunday, Abu Safia said the Israeli drone attack would “not stop us from completing our humanitarian mission and we will continue to do this job at any cost”.
“We are being targeted daily. They targeted me a while ago but this will not deter us,” he said from his hospital bed.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told the AFP news agency that Abu Safia suffered an injury to his back and left thigh due to metal fragments but that he was now in a “stable” condition in hospital.
Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of the three hospitals that are barely operating in northern Gaza after Israeli forces detained and expelled medical staff and prevented emergency medical equipment from reaching.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said the attack on Abu Safia was typical of Israeli attacks on Palestinians in intensive care units in northern Gaza, unable to receive medical aid due to a blockade.
“In the northern Gaza Strip, there are no civil defence teams, ambulances or paramedics. This is also adding more misery because even if you can get the chance for anyone to help rescue you, there are no teams to help you or save your life,” Khoudary said.
In the past few weeks, Israel has said it facilitated the delivery of medical and fuel supplies to northern Gaza, but the amount of aid going in is still below the needs of the residents.
In Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon, towns in northern Gaza that are being heavily attacked, residents told the Reuters news agency that Israeli forces had blown up hundreds of houses in the latest attacks.
Palestinians in Gaza say Israeli tactics seem to be directed at depopulating the area completely and creating a buffer zone, a claim denied by Israel.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 44,211 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, and 104,567 others have been wounded.
Forced displacement
Meanwhile, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders in the Shejaia suburb of eastern Gaza City on Sunday.
“For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the south,” army spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
Adraee’s address came after Hamas claimed a rocket volley on Saturday, which it said had targeted an Israeli army base over the border.
On social media, footage showed Palestinians leaving Shejaia on donkey carts and rickshaws moving to southern Gaza.
Since the war began 13 months ago, Israel has issued several evacuation orders, each time forcing Palestinians to move from places previously designated as “safe zones”.
The orders have been criticised as effectively being tantamount to the forced displacement of Palestinians.
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