A wounded Palestinian woman from the Baraka family is helped by men to reach the emergency ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, following Israeli air strikes that hit their building on Nov 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
JERUSALEM/GAZA/BEIRUT - Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Monday that it has informed mediators of its readiness to release 50 women and children hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a 5-day ceasefire.
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a message on its Telegram channel that "Qatari mediators have made efforts to release Israeli detainees in exchange for releasing 200 Palestinian children and 75 women."
He stressed that the ceasefire should ensure a halt to hostilities and allow aid entry to people in the enclave.
He emphasized that the continued Israeli ground, naval, and aerial aggression threatens the lives of the detainees held by them and by other armed Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that Israel is determined to press ahead with its attacks against militants in Gaza
The Israeli military operations came in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks on Oct 7, in which about 1,200 people were killed in Israel and about 240 hostages were taken, according to Israeli figures.
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Meanwhile, heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants continued outside hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, forcing thousands to flee while some chose to continue sheltering within.
An Israeli military spokesperson told Xinhua that the intense battles against Hamas currently "include the area surrounding the Al Shifa Hospital but not the hospital itself."
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday that the strikes "have exacerbated the already critical circumstances" and that "regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore."
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The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that attempts to evacuate the al-Quds Hospital, the second-largest hospital in Gaza, failed due to "continuing shelling and shooting."
According to a statement posted by the Red Crescent on social media, a Red Crescent evacuation convoy, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross, returned after setting off Monday from Khan Younis towards al-Quds Hospital.
Flares rise over the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Nov 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
"The convoy was forced to return due to the dangerous conditions in the Tal al-Hawa area, where the hospital is located," said the Red Crescent. "The medical staff, patients and their companions are still trapped inside the hospital without food, water or electricity," it said.
Israel denied it was attacking hospitals. In a statement, the military said that a militant squad embedded itself in the area of the al-Quds Hospital and shot RPG fire and gunfire from the hospital entrance at soldiers. At least 21 militants were "subsequently eliminated," according to the statement.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that Israel is determined to press ahead with its attacks against militants in Gaza. "This is not 'an operation,' here we go all the way until the absolute victory," he reaffirmed.
Israel is facing increasing pressure from international bodies and worldwide mass protests, urging a ceasefire and the protection of civilians.
"The pressure (on Israel) is not very high, but it is increasing," Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told journalists in a briefing earlier in the day. "We have 2-3 weeks before the heavy international pressure (for a ceasefire) will begin," said Cohen.
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Also on Monday, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency said in a statement that forces killed Yaakub A'ashur, head of the Anti-Tank Missile Array of Hamas' Khan Yunis Brigade. "He took part in the planning and execution of attacks against IDF soldiers," the statement read. The forces also killed Mohammed Khamis Dababash, who according to the Shin Bet was a senior Hamas operative and a former head of Hamas' military intelligence.
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According to the military, the two were among "dozens" of Hamas commanders killed since Israel launched its war against Hamas on Oct 7.
A Palestinian youth holds his younger brother as they stand amid the debris of a destroyed building in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
Hamas' government media office in Gaza announced that the Palestinian death toll had risen to 11,240, while more than 28,000 others were injured.
At a press conference at the Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, the director-general of the government media office Ismail Thawabta said the total deaths included 4,630 children and 3,130 women, while more than 28,000 others were injured.
Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that four Lebanese were killed in confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on Monday
He added that 41,120 housing units in the strip were completely destroyed by Israel's raids, while 94 government headquarters, 253 schools, 71 mosques, and 3 churches were also damaged.
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Meanwhile, Palestinian security and medical sources on Monday said 31 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombardment that targeted several homes in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-run Civil Defense in Gaza said in a statement that Israeli aircraft targeted a residential area in the Jabalia refugee camp, which led to the complete destruction of 12 homes and the killing of 31 people.
At least ten others were injured in the bombing, the statement added.
Plumes of smoke rise following Israeli artillery shelling on the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab, along Lebanon's southern border with northern Israel on Nov 13, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
Confrontations between Hezbollah, Israel
The cross-border fire continued on Israel's northern front. Military Chief Herzi Halevi told reporters that Israel is preparing to act to stop the rockets. "We are preparing strongly with action plans for the north. Our mission is to bring security in such a way that the residents of the north will feel safe to return to their homes," he said.
Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that four Lebanese were killed in confrontations between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on Monday.
According to security reports, the total number of casualties since Oct 8 reached 101 people, including 78 members of Hezbollah
The sources said that Israeli heavy artillery bombed the outskirts of 28 towns in southern Lebanon, including 18 towns in the southwest of the country and 10 in the southeast, using more than 450 explosives and incendiary shells.
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The same sources reported that the Israeli drones and warplanes carried out a series of raids, including 18 attacks that targeted the outskirts of 15 towns.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its fighters attacked an Israeli infantry force near the Pranit barracks with missiles and another one at the al-Dhahira site along the border.
Hezbollah also targeted Israeli positions in Ruwaisat al-Alam and al-Marj, confirming casualties among the Israeli army.
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According to security reports, the total number of casualties since Oct 8 reached 101 people, including 78 members of Hezbollah.
The Lebanon-Israel border witnessed increased tension for over four weeks after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel on Oct 8 in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel the previous day, prompting the Israeli forces to respond by firing heavy artillery toward several areas in southeastern Lebanon.
