Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu evokes hostage deal, hospitals in northern-Gaza 'out of service'

Fighting raged in Gaza on Monday, over five weeks after Hamas’s shock 7 October attack triggered a furious response from Israel which has vowed to destroy the Palestinian terrorist group.

About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel and almost 240 hostages taken, according to Israeli officials.

In Gaza, more than 11,100 people, also mostly civilians, have been killed, health officials in the Hamas-run territory have said.

Here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:

Hospitals ‘out of service’

The deputy health minister in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, Youssef Abu Rish, told AFP on Monday that all hospitals in the north of the territory are “out of service” amid energy shortages.

Abu Rish said seven premature babies and 27 patients had died in recent days in the Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest.

The hospital has been caught up in intense fighting between Israel, which charges Hamas fighters are hiding in tunnels beneath it, and Palestinian terrorists.

Gaza has been under near total Israeli siege and run short of food, fuel and other basic supplies. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday called on the European Union and the United Nations to “parachute aid” into Gaza.

Netanyahu evokes hostage deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US media a deal could be afoot to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, but declined to provide details for fear of scuttling the potential plan.

Asked on NBC show “Meet the Press” whether there was a potential deal, Netanyahu replied: “There could be.”

A Palestinian official in Gaza, however, blamed Netanyahu “for the delay and obstacles in reaching a preliminary agreement on the release of several prisoners”.

UN flags fly at half-mast

Flags flew at half-mast at United Nations compounds across the globe on Monday, as staff observed a minute’s silence in memory of colleagues killed in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The UN had said several people were killed in strikes on a UN facility in Gaza City, where hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge.

In a separate incident, AFPTV footage showed a crater in the middle of a school compound run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

500 more evacuated to Egypt

Around 500 foreigners and dual nationals as well as several wounded Palestinians were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt on Sunday, according to reports from both sides of the border.

AlQahera News, an outlet close to the Egyptian intelligence services, reported the crossing of “seven wounded Palestinians” through Rafah, the only crossing not controlled by Israel.

A Turkish vessel carrying materials for field hospitals arrived in Egypt’s port of El Arish near Rafah, with plans to treat wounded evacuees.

Lebanon and Syria strikes

Israeli fighter jets pounded Hezbollah hideouts in southern Lebanon with strikes on Sunday after an incoming anti-tank missile wounded Israeli civilians near the border, the army said.

Since 8 October, Israel has traded fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah and other terrorist groups in southern Lebanon on a near-daily basis, amid heightened fears of a regional conflagration.

At least eight pro-Iran fighters were killed in US strikes on eastern Syria, a war monitor said Monday, a day after Washington carried out raids in response to attacks on American forces.