Israeli forces are bombarding the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas face more obstacles.
Medics in the bombed enclave said the Israeli army on Wednesday targeted another school housing displaced families in the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan.
The strike killed three Palestinians, including a child, and injured several others.
The attack came shortly after an earlier strike targeting a residential house in Gaza City, killing a pregnant woman.
According to Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, doctors managed to save the baby but “lost the mother.”
“The situation is dire at all levels in the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary said.
“Elsewhere, a very famous Palestinian writer (Walaa Jumaa al-Ifranji) was killed along with her husband (Ahmed Saeed Salama) in an Israeli attack on their home south of the Nuseirat refugee camp,” in central Gaza, she added.
An Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza also killed two people on Wednesday.
Separately, several Palestinians were killed and injured in al-Mawasi, an area that Israel declared a “safe zone” for people forced to flee their homes in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where the army declared having carried out a strike against a Hamas fighter.
The Israeli army regularly targets displacement camps as well as schools turned into shelters, killing mainly women and children in its genocide since October last year, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians.
The military also targets hospitals and medical facilities. In the besieged north, where Israeli forces launched a new ground offensive more than two months ago, one of Gaza’s last partially operational hospitals came under intense Israeli attack.
Israel’s siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital has intensified in recent days, and Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud reports that it is now “rendered non-operational given all the constant attacks and use of explosive devices “.
The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces also continued to besiege two other medical facilities that are barely operational as they surround Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Jabalia.
The Israeli army on Tuesday forced Indonesian hospital officials to evacuate patients and staff and continued to operate near the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. They also ordered that hospital to be emptied, but authorities refused, citing the risks faced by dozens of patients.
The Palestinians have accused Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza in order to create a buffer zone.
The Israeli attacks came as Palestinians in Gaza experienced another dark Christmas.
Pope Francis denounced the “extremely serious” humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas during his traditional Christmas speech at the Vatican.
“Let there be a ceasefire, let the hostages be released and aid be provided to populations exhausted by hunger and war,” he declared.
Ceasefire talks hampered
Meanwhile, Hamas and Israel blamed each other on Wednesday for the failure to reach a ceasefire deal, despite progress reported by both sides in recent days.
Hamas said Israel had set new conditions while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of going back on agreements already made.
“The occupation set new conditions related to the withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners and return of displaced persons, which delayed the conclusion of the available agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas, however, said it was showing flexibility and that the talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, were moving in a serious direction.
Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying the group “continues to lie, renege on agreements already made and continues to create difficulties in negotiations.”
Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening for consultations on a deal after an important week of talks, Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday.
The United States and the two Arab mediators have stepped up efforts to reach an agreement over the past two weeks.