Israel vowed to press on with military operations in Gaza, as France added to rising international calls for a cease-fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the idea of the Palestinian Authority returning to govern the territory.
The United Nations said Israeli ground attacks and shelling were stepped up around hospitals in Gaza City and northern Gaza, with several being directly hit. The World Health Organization lost communication with Al-Shifa Hospital, a major facility said to be encircled by Israeli troops. Israel, which accuses Hamas of using the hospitals as command centers, said there was safe passage for anyone who wanted to leave.
Hezbollah said the Iran-backed militant group is using heavier weaponry in its exchanges with Israel across the Israeli-Lebanese border. Iran also supports Gaza’s rulers Hamas, a group designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.
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(All time stamps are Israeli time)
Fighting Intensifies Around Gaza Hospitals (8:15 a.m.)
Several hospitals in Gaza City and norther Gaza were directly hit after Israel intensified its military assault, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update.
Power at the Indonesia and Shifa hospitals reportedly cut off after fuel ran out, it said. Two babies died at Shifa after life support ceased working while 37 babies in incubators are at imminent risk of death, OCHA said, citing the Health Ministry in Ramallah in the West Bank.
OCHA official Martin Griffiths has said “there can be no justification for acts of war in health care facilities, leaving them with no power, food or water, and shooting at patients and civilians trying to flee.”
WHO Loses Communication with Al-Shifa Hospital (4 a.m.)
The World Health Organization said it has lost communication with its contacts at Al-Shifa Hospital, a major facility in northern Gaza that’s said to be encircled by Israeli troops.
“As horrifying reports of the hospital facing repeated attacks continue to emerge, we assume our contacts joined tens of thousands of displaced people who had sought shelter on the hospital grounds and are fleeing the area,” the WHO said in a statement. “There are reports that some people who fled the hospital have been shot at, wounded and even killed.”
Israel Says It Strikes Syria in Response to Attack on Golan (3:20 a.m.)
“A short while ago, in response to the attack toward the Golan Heights yesterday (Saturday), IDF fighter jets struck terror infrastructure sites in Syria,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
Earlier, IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel had targeted Syria using artillery fire in response to two rockets that were fired into the Golan Heights and fell in an open area.
Jordanian Air Force Delivers Gaza Aid (12:02 a.m.)
Jordan airdropped medical aid to its field hospital in the Gaza Strip, Jordan’s state-run news agency reported.
The second such operation by Jordan was carried out in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, report added.
Netanyahu Pushes Back on Cease Fire Demands (10:49 p.m.)
Israel won’t stop military operations in Gaza until it achieves victory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, rejecting rising international calls for a cease-fire.
“No international pressure, or false accusations against Israel, will change our faith in the righteousness of our way and our duty to defend ourselves,” he said in a televised news conference.
Addressing French President Emmanuel Macron’s claims that Israel is killing civilians, including women and children, Netanyahu said Israel doesn’t need to be lectured.
Netanyahu Rejects Return of PA to Rule Gaza (10:49 p.m.)
The prime minister also vowed that Israel will maintain control over security in Gaza after Hamas is toppled, saying that “the day after will only come after the Gaza Strip has been demilitarized and Israel will have the ability to go in and out to strike terrorists who may resurface.”
He also ruled out the possibility of the Palestinian Authority returning to govern Gaza, saying the group hadn’t condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel. The authority was expelled from Gaza by Hamas in 2007 and now controls only parts of the West Bank.
Hezbollah Leading Lebanon Toward War: Israel Defense Chief (5:45 p.m.)
Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon toward a possible war and Lebanese citizens will be the ones to pay, Israeli’s defense minister said during a situation assessment on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Yoav Gallant’s comments came during the latest day of clashes between the Iran-backed militant group and Israel’s forces.
He described Hezbollah’s actions as “aggression, no longer just provocations,” and added, “what we do in Gaza, we know how to do in Beirut.”
Israel Says ‘No Siege’ at Al-Shifa Hospital (5:30 p.m.)
Israeli’s army says anyone who wishes can leave Al-Shifa Hospital. Despite clashes between Israeli forces and Hamas around the hospital, “there is no shooting at the hospital and no siege,” said Col. Moshe Tetro, the military’s head of Gaza coordination and liaison.
Tetro said in a video statement that he was in touch the hospital’s director and offered several times to coordinate the departure of anyone who wants to leave.
Earlier, the hospital’s director said Al-Shifa had run out of water, food and electricity, and had no internet connection. He also said that a floor occupying a surgical facility was targeted by Israel and that due to power shortage four patients died in the intensive care unit. None of the claims can be independently verified.
Hezbollah Chief Says Amping Up Weaponry in Cross-Border Attacks (4:40 pm)
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said his group has started using more powerful ammunition in its almost daily cross-border attacks against Israel, including drones and larger missiles.
Nasrallah, who heads the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, said Hezbollah fired the so-called Burkan short-range ballistic missile that weighs between 300 kilograms and 500 kilograms.
In a televised speech, Nasrallah said the group, designated by the US as a terrorist organization, has been dispatching so-called attack drones and regular UAVs almost daily that have reached deep into Israel, including as far as Haifa.
