Israeli forces are attacking the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas face further obstacles.
Medical professionals in the bombed enclave said the Israeli military attacked another school housing displaced families in the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan on Wednesday.
The attack killed three Palestinians, including a child, and injured several others.
The attack came shortly after an earlier attack on a residential building in Gaza City in which a pregnant woman was killed.
According to Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, paramedics were able to save the baby but “lost the mother.”
“The situation throughout the Gaza Strip is serious at all levels,” 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 Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza,” she added.
Two people were also killed in an Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday.
In addition, several Palestinians were killed and injured in al-Mawasi, an area that Israel has declared a “safe zone” for people forced to flee their homes in the southern Gaza Strip Khan Younis, where the military said it carried out an attack against one Hamas fighters had carried out.
The Israeli military routinely attacks refugee camps and schools converted into emergency shelters, killing mostly women and children Genocide since October last year, in which more than 45,000 Palestinians were killed.
The military is also targeting 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 has come under heavy Israeli attacks.
An Israeli siege begins Kamal Adwan Hospital has intensified in recent days, with Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reporting that it has now been “decommissioned amid constant attacks and the use of explosive devices.”
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israeli forces also continued to besiege two other medical facilities that were barely functioning as they surrounded Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Jabalia.
The Israeli army forced Indonesian hospital officials to evacuate patients and staff on Tuesday and continued to operate near the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. They also ordered the evacuation of that hospital, but officials there refused, saying dozens of patients were affected.
Palestinians accuse Israel of permanently depopulating the north of the Gaza Strip to create a buffer zone.
The Israeli attacks came as Palestinians in Gaza endured another grim Christmas.
Pope Francis denounced In his traditional Christmas address at the Vatican, he highlighted the “extremely serious” humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for the release of Israeli prisoners held by Hamas.
“May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and may relief be provided to the people exhausted by hunger and war,” he said.
Ceasefire talks were hindered
Meanwhile, Hamas and Israel exchanged blame on Wednesday for failing to reach a ceasefire agreement 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 deviating from agreements it had already reached.
“The occupation has set new conditions regarding withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners and the return of the displaced, which has delayed the achievement of the available agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
However, Hamas said it was showing flexibility and that talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt were moving in a serious direction.
Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying the group “continues to lie, violate agreements already reached and continue to create difficulties in negotiations.”
Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening after a momentous week of negotiations to discuss a deal, Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday.
The United States and the two Arab mediators have stepped up their efforts to reach an agreement in the past two weeks.
