More than 60% hospitals, medical centres in Gaza out of service: Palestinian Health Ministry

More than 60 per cent of hospitals and medical centres in Gaza are now out of service, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement. Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said 16 of 35 hospitals and 51 of 72 medical centers are no longer operational in the Gaza Strip owing to fuel shortages and Israeli bombardment. The Palestinian Health Ministery added that the death count in Gaza has risen to 10,000 since Israel launched its counteroffensive against Hamas on October 7. According to the ministry, 70 per cent of those killed in the region are children, women and the elderly. Amid this, the Palestine Red Crescent Society has urged the international community to provide aid and supply to Gaza. “The hospital’s fuel reserves will run out within 48 hours, and life-saving equipment, neonatal incubators, and intensive care units will cease to function,” Red Crescent said in a statement. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would consider “tactical little pauses” in fighting to facilitate the entry of aid or the exit of hostages from the Gaza Strip, but again rejected calls for a ceasefire despite international pressure.

Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper his country’s war effort, but pausing fighting for humanitarian reasons, an idea supported by Israel’s top ally the United States, would continue to be considered based on circumstances.

“As far as tactical little pauses - an hour here, an hour there - we’ve had them before. I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave,” Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday.

With inputs from Reuters