Hamas commander, who held patients as hostages in Gaza hospital, killed

The Israeli military on Monday claimed it killed a senior Hamas commander in an airstrike who was responsible for holding approximately 1,000 people and patients as hostages in a Gaza hospital, according to media reports. In a tweet posted on X, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that Ahmed Siam was also responsible for preventing the evacuation of Gaza residents to the Southward. 
 

“IDF aircraft just struck Ahmed Siam, responsible for holding approximately 1,000 Gazan residents and patients hostage at the Rantisi Hospital and preventing their evacuation southward. Siam was a commander in Hamas’ Naser Radwan Company and is another example of Hamas using civilians in Gaza as human shields for terrorist purposes,” the tweet read. 
 

 

‘Out of service’ hospitals in Gaza
 

The hospitals in the centre of the heaviest north Gaza fighting have been forced out of service amid shortages and combat, the Hamas-run health ministry said Monday, adding the number of patients dying in the biggest medical centre had risen.

The hospital ceased operations “due to the depletion of available fuel and power outage,” the medical organisation said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. 
 

Hostage deal likely: Netanyahu
 

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with with a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers in Tel Aviv on Sunday, according to a statement from his office. The lawmakers presented two resolutions — one from the House and another from the Senate — in support of Israel and its right to defend itself, according to the statement. 
 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US network that there “could” be a deal in the offing. “The less I say about it, the more I’ll increase the chances that it materialises,” he said on Meet the Press.  
 

World cannot stand silent: WHO
 

Gaza’s largest hospital has stopped functioning, the World Health Organisation(WHO) said as hundreds of patients remain trapped at this latest focal point of Israel-Hamas ground battle in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
 

“The WHO has managed to get in touch with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza...the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore”, said WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair.” The situation remains grim in north Gaza where hospitals are blockaded by Israeli forces and are not able to provide care to those inside. At least six babies and nine other patients have died at Al-Shifa hospital that suffered fuel shortages, the Hamas-run health ministry said.
 

US strikes Iran-backed groups
 

The US military conducted airstrikes on two locations in eastern Syria involving Iranian-backed groups, hitting a training location and a weapons facility, according to the Pentagon and US officials. 
 

It marks the third time in a bit more than two weeks that the US has retaliated against the militants for what has been a growing number of attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria. 
 

Medics plead for fuel to save babies
 

Battles around hospitals have forced thousands of Palestinians to flee from some of the last shelters in northern Gaza while stranding critically wounded patients, including newborns, and their caregivers with dwindling supplies and no electricity, health officials said Monday. Israeli military has urged Palestinians to flee south on foot through what it calls safe corridors.