Medical teams in Gaza ‘cannot respond to the volume and type’ of daily infections, spokesperson says
The collapsing health situation in the Gaza is “catastrophic and painful,” a Health Ministry spokesperson said in a statement today, accusing Israel of “deliberately strangl[ing]” the system.
Medical teams across the strip “cannot respond to the volume and type of daily infections,” spokesperson Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra said, adding that the accumulation of cases and the lack of treatment facilities in hospitals was accelerating the loss of life.
WHO officials said earlier this week that the health system in Gaza was “collapsing” amid shortages of supplies, staff, and mass displacement leading to the rapid spread of disease.
At least two-thirds of the hospitals in Gaza have ceased functioning entirely as a result of partial or total damage, according to the organization.
IDF tours Gaza tunnels where it says hostages were held
Israel’s military says it discovered prison cells where hostages were held in a Hamas tunnel network under the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
NBC News was given access to the cells on Friday, following Israeli troops into the basement of a house and then into a dark tunnel beneath. Each cell had a caged door that could be locked from the outside, a sink, toilet, and a shower — though none had running water. One had a dirty single mattress.
“We’re feeling the way the hostages felt,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, told NBC News. “It’s dark. It’s hot. It’s wet. It’s lonely. There’s no daylight. You lose the sense of direction, the sense of time.”
Israel’s military said it had discovered hair and other DNA evidence confirming that hostages were held in the cells. Hagari said that the layout of the compound matched descriptions given by hostages released in late November, and the IDF also released pictures of what it said were children’s pictures discovered at the site — drawn by child hostages during their days of captivity.
105 hostages are believed to remain alive and in captivity in the Gaza Strip, along with the bodies of 27 others. 110 hostages have been returned to Israel and other countries, and the bodies of 11 more have been recovered.
U.S. strikes another Houthi anti-ship missile
The U.S. air force has carried out another attack against a Houthi anti-ship missile yesterday, the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said, the seventh strike against Houthi rebels this month.
Centcom said that that the missile was aimed into the Gulf of Aden and that it “struck and destroyed the missile in self-defense” after determining it was a threat to U.S. Navy ships in the area.
Israeli navy, air force, ground troops continue operations across Gaza as death toll soars
The Israeli military continued its land, sea and air operation in Gaza Saturday and into Sunday across both the north and south of the Gaza strip, the IDF said in a statement today.
In Tuffah in the northern Gaza Strip, ground forces killed 15 people the IDF identified as “terrorists,” and conducted raids on “Hamas structures.” In Khan Younis, snipers assisted by Israel’s air force killed more people, and that they had “located large quantities of weapons inside a Hamas structure.”
Naval forces were assisting troops on the ground with observation and in strikes, the IDF added.
Earlier this month the IDF laid out plans for a more “targeted” phase of the war, but the death toll in Gaza has not abated.
Nearly 180 people were estimated to have been killed within the last 24 hours, sending Gaza’s death toll past 25,000, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
No injuries after 2 British warships collide in a Middle East port
LONDON — Two British warships collided in a harbor in Bahrain, causing damage to the vessels but no injuries, the Royal Navy said.
The HMS Chiddingfold appeared to reverse into the HMS Bangor as it was at a dock, according to video posted on social media.
“Why this happened is still to be established,” said Rear Adm. Edward Ahlgren. “We train our people to the highest standards and rigorously enforce machinery safety standards, but unfortunately incidents of this nature can still happen.”
Ahlgren said an investigation is under way into what went wrong.
The two minehunters have been based in the Middle East to help protect merchant vessels.
The British military last week joined the U.S. in bombing more than a dozen sites used by the…
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