By Al-Masry Al-Youm,Masry Al

Copyright egyptindependent

The Israeli occupation army escalated its military offensive on Gaza City, coinciding with the expansion of its ground assault, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of a number of Palestinians. At the same time, dozens of families continued to be displaced from the central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip.

Sources in the Strip’s hospitals reported the martyrdom of 37 Palestinians by the Israeli army’s fire since Wednesday’s dawn, including 24 in Gaza City.

Medical sources said that three Palestinians, including a woman, were martyred in an airstrike that targeted an apartment in the Al-Dhafer tower near the Al-Maliya intersection in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood. In another raid on an apartment in the Habib building in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, a mother and her child were martyred.

The medical sources added that a number of children were injured in an airstrike near the Palestine Stadium in the center of the city. They also explained that three members of one family were martyred in an attack on a displacement tent in Mawasi Khan Younis, while a man, his pregnant wife, and their daughter were martyred in a raid on a house in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Ambulance and emergency crews in Gaza announced the martyrdom of five Palestinians and the injury of dozens more by Israeli fire as they were waiting for aid near a distribution center north of the city of Rafah. A number of Palestinians were also martyred and injured in a raid that targeted the Al-Ajour building in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood northwest of Gaza, while another Israeli airstrike hit the Al-Mu’tasim building across from the Al-Tabieen School on Al-Nafaq Street.

At the same time, the Ministry of Health in Gaza warned of an imminent humanitarian disaster due to the occupation’s prevention of fuel entry, which is necessary to run hospital generators. This, they noted, threatens to halt operations at the Al-Sahaba Medical Complex, the General Service Hospital, the central oxygen station, and ambulance vehicles.

The ministry stated that the Israeli army targeted the Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza City three consecutive times late on Sunday night, with the strikes hitting the upper floors of the hospital just minutes apart. The ministry noted that this is the only hospital in the Strip that offers oncology and kidney dialysis specializations, in addition to treating respiratory and digestive illnesses.

The ministry added that at the time of the targeting, there were 80 patients in the hospital, including four in the pediatric ICU and eight in the neonatal ICU. However, 40 patients left in search of safer places, while 40 patients and their families remained, along with 12 ICU cases and 30 medical staff members.

The ministry condemned what it described as a “deliberate crime against the health system,” considering the targeting of hospitals as confirmation of the occupation’s systematic policy to completely put the health sector out of service. The ministry renewed its appeal to international bodies to provide protection for health institutions, their staff, and their patients.

On a related note, the Israeli army announced the creation of a “temporary transit route” via Salah al-Din Street to allow residents to leave Gaza City and head south. This route was open for 48 hours, beginning at noon on the day of the announcement.

The army’s spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said the goal was to facilitate the movement south. Estimates within the military establishment suggest that 400,000 Palestinians have been displaced, out of the approximately one million residents who lived in the city before the large-scale offensive began.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that Internet and landline communication services in Gaza and the north have been cut off due to the targeting of key network infrastructure. The United Nations announced a complete Internet blackout in the Strip, which has paralyzed relief operations.

Separately, the Israeli army announced it has carried out more than 150 airstrikes and artillery strikes on Gaza in two days. It noted that its forces are deepening their ground maneuver as part of Operation “Gideon’s Chariots 2,” and indicated that the occupation of Gaza City will take “several months,” despite international criticism and warnings.

Domestically in Israel, Hebrew media reported that thousands of students from 85 schools protested yesterday in solidarity with the families of those held in the Gaza Strip. The students demanded the release of the detainees and an end to the Israeli war on the Strip.

Protests by the families of Israeli captives held by the Hamas movement have escalated against the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government this week. The families have complained that he refuses to meet with them and hear their demands, using the excuse of a busy schedule and a lack of suitable time.

With the start of the new academic year, Israel has seen student protests. Student bodies from 70 high schools demanded that the Israeli prime minister’s government reach a captive exchange deal with Hamas.

In response, the Israeli government has rejected proposals for a prisoner exchange and an end to the war. This comes at a time when Netanyahu is facing a local corruption trial and is being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.