An Israeli army raid on Shifa Hospital that began on Monday in northern Gaza continued through Thursday. Israel claims its forces killed more than 140 people and arrested "senior Hamas officials."
Approximately 600 Palestinians have been apprehended, and more than 140 others have been killed, the army said in a statement, claiming all of them are militants. "Several weapons and intelligence documents" were discovered during searches in the hospital, according to the statement.
"Islamic Jihad operatives in the hospital complex surrendered themselves to the troops," the army said.
Smoke rises above buildings during Israeli raid as people flee the Al-Shifa hospital compound and its vicinity in Gaza City, March 21, 2024. /CFP
The army said that "senior officials" of Hamas, an armed group and movement that runs Gaza, and the Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian militant group, were arrested.
No end date for the operation was given. "The forces are continuing to operate in and to search the area, locating weapons and apprehending terrorists in close-quarter encounters," the statement read.
On Thursday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli forces blew up the specialized surgical building and that communication with all medical teams inside the medical complex was lost.
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said the WHO and its partners have lost contact with health personnel at Al-Shifa hospital since the ongoing raid began.
Shifa, which was Gaza's largest medical facility before the conflict, is now one of the few hospitals still functioning in the coastal enclave and also serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians. Israel has targeted the hospital before, claiming that Hamas used it as a command center and hid weapons and fighters in underground tunnels underneath the complex.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt, March 21, 2024. /CFP
Ceasefire talks in Qatar
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Thursday that Israel is set to send a delegation to Qatar for negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire deal.
The delegation, led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, will depart for Qatar on Friday, his office said.
The talks include the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel.
The meeting "will be held as part of the negotiations in Doha, and its purpose is to advance the efforts to return the hostages," the office stated.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is expected to arrive in Israel for talks with senior officials on Friday, said on Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that negotiations to secure an immediate truce in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza were "getting closer" to a deal.
Meeting with Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Thursday, Blinken said "negotiators continue to work."
The UN Security Council will vote on a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an Israel-Hamas hostage deal that was proposed by the United States.
The draft resolution says an "immediate and sustained ceasefire" lasting roughly six weeks would protect civilians and allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, according to Reuters.
The death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,988, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza announced on Thursday.
The ministry said in a statement that the Israeli army killed 65 Palestinians and wounded 92 others in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 31,988 and injuries to 74,188 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023.
Parachutes drop supplies into the northern Gaza Strip, March 20, 2024. /CFP
Maximizing aid to Gaza
Officials from 36 countries and organizations met on Thursday to discuss ways of maximizing aid to Gaza through the Cyprus sea corridor.
Representatives from the United Nations, the European Union, the G7 and non-governmental organizations involved in the handling and dispatch of aid to Gaza attended the meeting.
They discussed ways to improve the operation in terms of aid delivery, transport and distribution, said Cyprus' Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos in Larnaca, where the aid operation is based.
The officials also discussed the establishment of a fund to finance the operation, he added.
According to local media, Cyprus has agreed with Israel on the lifting of a naval blockade imposed in 2007 to facilitate aid shipment to Gaza.
The first aid consignment through the Cyprus sea corridor left for Gaza on March 12.
UN agencies and aid organizations have expressed concern about imminent famine in Gaza. The quantity of aid permitted by Israel to enter Gaza falls short of its desperate needs.
(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)