(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula online
Doha, Qatar: Gaza's health Ministry has called on all international organisations to“immediately stop this [Israeli] massacre against the sick, the wounded, the displaced, and the medical staff inside al-Shifa Hospital”.
Ministry also added some 30,000 people, including displaced civilians, wounded patients and medical staff are trapped inside al-Shifa Hospital amid Israel's onslaught.
Meanwhile, UNICEF warns that Israel has killed more than 13,000 children in Gaza since October 7 while others are suffering from severe malnutrition and do not“even have the energy to cry”.
In the occupied West Bank, at least 35 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces in raids overnight and this morning, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said.
Watch this page for more live udpates:
[6:38pm Doha Time] Al Jazeera demands Israel immediately release its correspondent, Ismail al-Ghoul.
[5:30pm Doha Time] Today, Israeli army launched a pre-dawn raid at Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital. Heavy fighting raged in and around Gaza's largest hospital complex. Photo below shows a Palestinian woman as she cradles a wounded boy after Israeli bombardment today, March 18. (AFP)
[4:30pm Doha Time] High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel accused the Israeli entity on Monday of causing famine in Gaza, and using starvation as a weapon in the war on the Strip. Read more.
[11:50am Doha Time] Israel arrests 35 Palestinians in occupied West Bank
At least 35 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank in raids overnight and this morning, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said.
Among those arrested is Rawda Abu Ajmiyeh, a Palestinian former prisoner who was released in November.
Abu Ajmiyeh was detained from her home in the Dheisheh refugee camp south of Bethlehem, along with two men.
At least 13 of the 240 Palestinians released in November have been rearrested, with 11 of them remaining in Israeli custody, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said.
The majority of the arrests took place in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of al-Issawiya.
[11:00am Doha Time] Israel 'deliberately' blocking aid into Gaza while children starve
Palestinian girls walk on a sand dune toward a tent dedicated to Koran reading at a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern gaza Strip on March 17, 2024. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
Israel is“systematically and deliberately” blocking aid from getting into Gaza while famine-like conditions spread in the enclave, says Oxfam.
In its latest report, the organisation outlined seven ways Israel prevents the delivery of aid, including by only opening two crossings into Gaza, imposing a dysfunctional inspection system that keeps supplies snarled up and cracking down on humanitarian missions.
“Israeli authorities are not only failing to facilitate the international aid effort but are actively hindering it,” Oxfam said, adding that it creates the“perfect storm for humanitarian collapse”.
On Sunday, aid convoys reached northern Gaza City and Jabalia for the first time without incident in four months, reaching a desperate population that has grown so hungry some have resorted to eating leaves or animal feed.
Hunger has grown so pervasive that one in three children under the age of two in Gaza are“acutely malnourished” according to the UN, while at least 23 children have died from dehydration or starvation.
[9:15am Doha Time] Gaza Health Ministry: Stop this 'massacre' in al-Shifa Hospital
A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on March 17, 2024.(Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
Gaza's Health Ministry has called on all international organisations to“immediately stop this [Israeli] massacre against the sick, the wounded, the displaced, and the medical staff inside al-Shifa Hospital”.
Displaced people are trapped inside the specialised surgery building and in the emergency reception in Building 8 of al-Shifa.
A fire broke out at the gate and cases of suffocation occurred among the displaced women and children inside.
Targeting anyone who approaches the windows is another crime against health institutions.
[8:22am Doha Time] About 30,000 people trapped inside al-Shifa: Ministry
Gaza's Health Ministry says some 30,000 people, including displaced civilians, wounded patients and medical staff are trapped inside al-Shifa Hospital amid Israel's onslaught.
In a message in English on Telegram, it said anyone“who tries to move is targeted by sniper bullets and quadcopter”.
The ministry added that the ongoing raid on al-Shifa is Israel's fourth since October 7.
[8:00am Doha Time] Gaza Health Ministry reports deaths, injuries at al-Shifa
More from Gaza's Health Ministry on the ongoing Israeli assault at al-Shifa.
In a message in English on Telegram, the ministry said the raid, which began at 2am local time (00:00 GMT) has resulted in a“number of martyrs and wounded”.
It said there were Israeli vehicles inside the hospital's courtyard and that Israeli forces launched missiles and opened fire at al-Shifa's specialised surgery building.
[6:45am Doha Time] More than 13,000 children killed in Gaza, others severely malnourished: UNICEF
Children stand next to the rubble of Al-Faruq Mosque, that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment, in Rafah on the southern gaza Strip on March 17, 2024. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)
Israel has killed more than 13,000 children in Gaza since October 7 while others are suffering from severe malnutrition and do not“even have the energy to cry”, says the UN's children's agency, UNICEF.
“Thousands more have been injured or we can't even determine where they are. They may be stuck under rubble... We haven't seen that rate of death among children in almost any other conflict in the world,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the CBS News network.
[6:20am Doha Time] Israeli forces bomb a house in Nuseirat, kill 9 Palestinians
Palestinians search the rubble of the Tabatibi family home following overnight Israeli bombardment west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central gaza Strip on March 16, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
The Wafa news agency is reporting an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. It said Israeli forces bombed a house there, killing at least nine Palestinians and wounding several others.
The agency also reported Israeli attacks in the Tal Al Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City. Read more
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