Israel warns of long war on Hamas as heavy fighting rages near Gaza hospital, 21 wounded in Hezbollah attacks

At least 7 Israeli troops and 14 civilians were wounded after the Hezbollah terror group launched an anti-tank guided missile attack from Lebanon, according to military and medical officials. The attack targeted vehicles near the northern community of Dovev, close to the border. Among the victims were Israel Electric Corporation employees who had come to repair power lines damaged in a previous attack from Lebanon. Also, in a separate incident near the northern community of Menara, seven soldiers were wounded by a mortar. The Israeli military said they identified 15 launches from Lebanon over the past hour and their defense systems intercepted four of them. The rest fell into open areas. Hamas’ military wing, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for shelling the northern Haifa and the Israeli border towns of Na’ura and Shlomi from southern Lebanon without giving any further details. Responding to the attack, the IDF took action against the Hezbollah cell responsible for the civilian attack, striking several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including a weapons depot. As Israel’s military advances into densely populated urban areas in northern Gaza, thousands of Palestinians are fleeing. Officials in the besieged enclave have reported a death toll surpassing 11,000 people. The search for safety in Gaza is becoming increasingly desperate amid escalating combat. Residents escaping to the south and Palestinian health officials have reported strikes in and around Gaza City’s main hospital overnight. Israel has stated that at least one of these strikes resulted from a misfired Palestinian rocket. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed urgent calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all the nearly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 rampage that triggered the war. A day after Netanyahu said Israel was bringing its “full force” with the aim of ending Hamas’ 16-year rule in Gaza, residents reported heavy airstrikes and shelling, including around Shifa Hospital. Israel, without providing evidence, has accused Hamas of concealing a command post inside and under the compound, allegations denied by Hamas and hospital staff. “They are outside, not far from the gates," said Ahmed al-Boursh, a resident sheltering there. The hospital’s last generator ran out of fuel Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Health Ministry. It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying. Israel’s military asserted it placed 300 liters (79 gallons) of fuel near Shifa overnight for an emergency generator powering incubators for premature babies and coordinated the delivery with hospital officials. But the military said Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel. A Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, disputed the account and also told Al Jazeera the fuel would not be enough to operate the generator an hour. “This is a mockery towards the patients and children,” Al-Qidra said. Speaking to CNN, Netanyahu asserted that “100 or so” people had been evacuated from Shifa and that Israel had created safe corridors. At least 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial Hamas attack. The Israeli military said two more of its soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the total to 48 since the ground offensive began. About 250,000 Israelis have evacuated from communities near Gaza, where Palestinian militants are still firing barrages of rockets, and along the northern border with Lebanon. With inputs from AP.