Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza completed 145 days on Tuesday, February 28, with dozens of Palestinians continuing to be killed and injured across the Gaza strip amid ongoing ceasefire talks. Israeli security forces have also drastically escalated their violent and deadly military raids in the occupied West Bank, carrying out mass arrests and causing extensive destruction and damage in several parts of the Palestinian territory.
Reports also noted that the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which was steadily worsening over the last several weeks and months due to the incessant and indiscriminate Israeli bombardment, is poised to decline even further, as two more hospitals in Gaza have gone out of service.
The Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals, both situated in Northern Gaza, have both stopped functioning as a result of shortages of fuel, medicines, and other medical supplies. With these two hospitals, a total of 31 hospitals have now been put out of service as a result of the Israeli war.
Aside from hospitals, 152 other health centers and medical facilities, including ambulance centers and ambulances, have also been targeted by the Israeli security forces, putting extreme strain on the already heavily strained healthcare system in Gaza.
Meanwhile, intense negotiations are taking place to reach a ceasefire agreement. The United States and others have publicly expressed optimism of a deal being chalked out soon, but the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, has said that there is still a lot to discuss before a deal can be reached.
Senior Hamas official, Basem Naim, told the media that there is still a long way to go before a ceasefire agreement is reached, noting that the “the gap is still wide.”
“We have to discuss a lot of points with the mediators,” Naim said, further adding that the optimism of the US is “not related to the reality on the ground,” and that “If the Americans want to be really optimistic, they have to end their game of double standards.”
“They talk about wanting a ceasefire and avoiding broadening the conflict in the region, but at the same time they are using their veto in the UN Security Council, they are providing billions of dollars to Israel, and they are securing more ammunition for Israel.”
According to Naim, even though Hamas is showing flexibility during the negotiations, there are some non-negotiable demands on which Hamas will not stand down, such as a final and total ceasefire instead of a humanitarian pause, the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and restoring the freedom of movement of Palestinians within Gaza.
In the meantime, the ongoing Israeli bombardment and ground attacks over the last 24 hours have killed at least 76 Palestinians and wounded hundreds of others. Casualties have been reported from across Gaza, such as from Gaza city, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, Rafah, and Wadi Gaza.
The Israeli military continues to deliberately and systematically target and attack homes, residential buildings, makeshift shelters for the internally displaced civilians, hospitals and densely populated neighborhoods, in blatant disregard for the countless appeals and statements by the international community, rights groups, and aid agencies, even disregarding the directives from the International Court of Justice.
According to the latest Palestinian health ministry statistics, the death toll in Gaza has gone up to at least 29,954 Palestinians, while at least 70,325 are reported to be injured and more than 8,000 missing.
