DUBAI, October 31. /TASS/. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has reported renewed Israeli airstrikes on the premises of the Al Quds hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, published on the X social media platform (formerly Twitter), the agency noted "Continuous artillery and air strikes in Tal-Alhwa area in #Gaza where the Al-Quds Hospital is located." "The building is trembling and the displaced civilians and the working crews are experiencing fear and panic," the statement noted.
Earlier, the PRCS reported that the Israeli military was intentionally shelling the medical facility to force the personnel, patients and refugees there to leave the premises. The agency said that it was impossible to evacuate 12,000 displaced individuals and more than 400 patients, which include many women and children, without risking their lives.
Spokesman for the UN secretary general Stephane Dujarric seconded this, noting that "it is impossible to evacuate hospitals in a conflict zone without endangering the lives of those patients and that hospitals need to be protected under international law."
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has begun delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.