Israel bombs Gaza City hospital as, expands displacement plan

Israeli forces targeted Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital overnight and early on Sunday with a drone attack, killing at least seven civilians and causing widespread damage.

The bombing hit the medical facility’s courtyard, and is not the first time the Israeli army has struck the area.

The attack on the hospital comes as at least six other aid-seekers in the enclave were killed by Israeli fire, near the Morag axis in south Gaza.

The Palestinian ministry of health said that 11 more Palestinians died in the last 24 hours due to starvation caused by Israel’s restriction of aid. The total toll of those who have died due to malnutrition and starvation since October 2023 is now 251, of whom 108 were children.

A statement from Gaza’s government media office decried Israel’s "systematic policy of engineered starvation and slow killing against more than 2.4 million people in Gaza, including more than 1.2 million Palestinian children, in a complete crime of genocide".

"More than 40,000 infants (under one year old) are suffering severe malnutrition, and their lives are threatened by gradual death," the statement continued.

Meanwhile, Israel’s forced displacement plan for Palestinians continues, with the army ramping up air raids on north Gaza City after saying they would advance plans to take over the area and move over a million Palestinians to concentration zones in the south of the enclave.

Recent days have seen Israeli forces heavily bombard Gaza City, with residents there unable to flee due to the intensity of the attacks and because there are no safe areas left.

The Israeli army said that their displacement plan will see Palestinians receive tents so they can move to the concentration camps, in an announcement that came just a day after the Israeli security cabinet approved a plan to occupy Gaza City.

The UN says that around 86 percent of Gaza is already under Israeli military zones or displacement orders, sparking widespread condemnation of the Israeli government’s actions.

Hamas has hit out at the plan and comments from Israeli officials, saying that former intelligence chief Aharon Haliva’s most recent comments were "an explicit admission of the genocidal doctrine" of Israel.

Earlier this week, Haliva made remarks that were leaked and broadcast on Israel’s Channel 12, where he was recorded as saying: "For every person killed on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die." He went on to say the killing of Palestinians was "necessary for future generations" and "they need a Nakba every now and then to feel the price".

Hamas further lambasted the comments, saying in a statement: "Haliva’s call to kill 50 Palestinians for every Israeli, regardless of whether they are children or women, is a systematic criminal policy."

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 61,800 Palestinians since October 2023, in what has been determined to be a genocide by UN experts and leading rights groups.