DUBAI, November 17. /TASS/. Emergency medical brigades of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) remain blocked in the Al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip and cannot treat the wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes.
"PRCS emergency medical services teams are still trapped in the Al-Ahli Hospital in Al-Ma'madani in Gaza hearing explosions in the area, along with intense gunfire. There are several casualties in the hospital courtyard about 30 meters away from our teams but they are unable to reach," the organization said in a post on its X (formerly Twitter) page.
The PRCS also pointed out that due to the constant Israeli shelling, rescue workers and paramedics working with the Red Crescent Society in Gaza are facing extremely difficult conditions and are not protected from attacks as the military operations in the region continue. According to the organization, at least four members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society have been killed and 22 others injured since tensions escalated on October 7.
Earlier in the day, the organization reported that Israeli forces' armored vehicles surrounded the Al-Ahli Hospital, the only medical facility in the northern Gaza Strip and its capital that continues to operate and receive patients. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 500 people were housed there as of November 14.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages, including women, children and the elderly. 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. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.