Ashraf Al-Qidra, a Gaza health ministry official, claimed 32 patients had died in the previous three days, including three newborn infants, as a result of the hospital's blockade in northern Gaza and a shortage of power. At least 650 patients were trapped inside, begging to be transferred to another medical institution. israel claims the hospital is built over tunnels that house a headquarters for Hamas fighters who use patients as human shields, something Hamas rejects.
"There are tanks in front of the hospital." We are completely surrounded. It is entirely civilian. Only... hospital patients, physicians, and other civilians are allowed to stay. Someone should stop this," said Dr ahmed El Mokhallalati, a surgeon at the hospital, over the phone. "We are hardly surviving."
In his first remarks since the weekend's events, which included reports of patient fatalities at the Shifa hospital, Biden stated that hospitals must be safeguarded.
"My hope and expectation is that there will be less intrusive action relative to hospitals, and we will remain in contact with the Israelis," Biden told reporters at the White House.
"Also there is an effort to get this pause to deal with the release of prisoners and that's being negotiated, as well, with the Qataris ... being engaged," he went on to say. "So I remain somewhat hopeful but hospitals must be protected."
After Hamas militants rampaged across southern israel killing civilians, israel initiated a campaign last month to obliterate Hamas, the Islamist group that administers the Gaza Strip and is openly sworn to the destruction of Israel.
According to Israel's assessment, around 1,200 individuals were killed in that raid, and 240 were hauled to Gaza as captives.
Since then, an Israeli military operation has killed thousands of Gazans and displaced two-thirds of the population. israel has ordered the evacuation of Gaza's northern half.
According to Gaza medical officials, over 11,000 individuals have been verified deceased, with around 40% of them being minors.
Israel claims Hamas hospitals are military sites, and the Israeli military on monday published video and images of what it claimed were weaponry concealed in the basement of Rantissi Hospital, a pediatric cancer treatment center.
Hostages for a ceasefire?
"The enemy has asked for the release of 100 women and children from his captives in Gaza, but we told the mediators that in a five-day truce, we can release 50 of them, and the number could reach 70 due to the difficulty that the captives are held by different factions," al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubaida said, referring to Israel's request.
White house national security advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that the white house would "like to see considerably longer pauses - days, not hours - in the context of a hostage release."
Another US source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the release of dozens of captives may result in a several-day halt, adding that discussions were exceedingly delicate.
Israel, which essentially blocksades Gaza, has opposed a truce, claiming that Hamas would merely exploit it to regroup, but has granted brief humanitarian "pauses" that have enabled food and other supplies to enter and foreigners to evacuate.
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