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At least 59 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Saturday, including 31 who were shot dead while heading to an aid distribution site and 28 others in Israeli airstrikes, according to hospital officials and witnesses. The shootings occurred near Rafah as people approached a site run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The Red Cross reported its largest influx of casualties in over a year, with most injuries caused by gunfire. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots at people behaving suspiciously but claimed it was unaware of any casualties. The GHF denied any incident occurred near its locations. Among the victims was 17-year-old Nasir al-Sha’er, whose mother said he went to get flour for his family. Witnesses said Israeli forces had ordered them to proceed to the site before opening fire. 28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Israeli airstrikes killed 13 people, including four children, in Deir al-Balah and 15 in Khan Younis, officials said. Strikes also hit Beit Hanoun in the north. Gaza’s 21-month war has left much of the population dependent on aid. Israel restricted aid after ending the latest ceasefire in March. The UN said only 150,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza this week after 130 days—far below needs. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 in Israel, over 57,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. In the West Bank, Palestinian-American Seifeddin Musalat was reportedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers. His family has urged a U.S. investigation.

Israeli airstrikes killed 14 people in the Gaza Strip, while a separate incident left 10 more Palestinians dead as they tried to access food in the war-ravaged enclave, hospital officials in Gaza told on Saturday. Meanwhile, two American aid workers from the Israel-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were wounded in southern Gaza during an attack at a food distribution point. The organization blamed Hamas for the assault but did not provide any evidence to support the claim. The latest wave of violence comes as U.S.-mediated ceasefire efforts to end the nearly 21-month conflict show signs of progress. Hamas gave a “positive” response to Washington's latest proposal for a 60-day ceasefire on Friday night but stressed that further negotiations were necessary to settle implementation details. The group is seeking assurances that the temporary truce would eventually lead to a full cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a breakthrough and plans to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House next week to advance the talks. Palestinians killed in southern Gaza Israeli airstrikes targeted tents in the Muwasi area along the southern Mediterranean coast of Gaza, killing seven people, including a Palestinian doctor and his three children, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Additionally, four more people were killed in the town of Bani Suheila in southern Gaza, while three others died in separate airstrikes across Khan Younis. The Israeli military has not yet commented on these incidents. In a separate development, eight Palestinians were killed near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) food distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, the hospital reported. Another Palestinian was killed near a different GHF site in Rafah. It remains unclear how close the victims were to the aid distribution locations. GHF denied the killings happened near their sites. Previously the organization has said no one has been shot at its sites, which are guarded by private contractors but can only be accessed by passing Israeli military positions hundreds of meters away. The army had no immediate comment, but has said it fires warning shots as a crowd-control measure and it only aims at people when its troops are threatened. One Palestinian was also killed waiting in crowds for aid trucks in eastern Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. The United Nations and other international organizations bring in their own supplies of aid. It was unclear to which organization the aid trucks the Palestinians were waiting for belonged to, but the incident did not appear to be connected to GHF operations. Crowds of Palestinians often wait for trucks and unload or loot their contents before they reach their destinations. These trucks must pass through areas under Israeli military control. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

Israeli airstrikes on Monday targeted a café, a school, and humanitarian aid centers in Gaza, killing at least 95 Palestinians and injuring many others. Among the dead were women, children, and journalist Ismail Abu Hatab. The most lethal strike occurred at Al-Baqa café in northern Gaza City, where 39 people were killed. Witnesses say the area, which had no political or military affiliation, was full of displaced civilians, including children celebrating a birthday. The bombing caused massive destruction and left a crater where the café once stood. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reported that the attack came without warning, hitting a place considered a haven for displaced families. Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli forces also bombed the Yafa school, which had been housing hundreds of displaced Palestinians. Witnesses say they were given just five minutes to evacuate. In central Gaza, Israeli strikes hit the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah. Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed chaos as tents sheltering displaced families were damaged. Reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum said this was at least the 10th time Israeli forces targeted that hospital. Gaza’s Government Media Office condemned the attack as a direct threat to the fragile healthcare system. In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, at least 15 more Palestinians were killed while waiting for food at aid distribution centers operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and 50 others were wounded. Israeli airstrike on Iran’s Evin Prison raises fears for political prisoners These hubs, supported by the U.S. and Israel, have seen nearly 600 deaths since GHF began overseeing aid in late May. The Israeli military admitted civilians were harmed and said it is reviewing its actions. A Haaretz report cited Israeli soldiers claiming they were ordered to shoot civilians at these sites. The attacks happened as Israeli officials traveled to Washington for renewed ceasefire talks, with U.S. officials reportedly pushing for a truce. Qatar, a key mediator, confirmed U.S. interest but warned about the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Talks are also expected to address broader regional issues, including Iran. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet is reviewing its Gaza strategy. Military officials claim the current operation is nearing its goals, and there may be new opportunities to recover hostages still held by Palestinian groups. Hamas, however, stated that no new ceasefire proposals have been received and reiterated its commitment to ending the suffering of Gazans through negotiations. Source: Al Jazeera

Israel has confirmed carrying out airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran as part of a military operation it has dubbed Operation Rising Lion, amid soaring regional tensions. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the strikes targeted multiple nuclear sites across Iran.  Explosions were reported in several parts of Tehran, with residents describing loud blasts and power disruptions in parts of the capital. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation was a necessary response to what he described as an "imminent threat to Israel's very survival" posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  The offensive marks one of the most direct and dramatic escalations between the two longtime adversaries. Israel has since declared a nationwide state of emergency, with authorities stating they expect retaliatory strikes "in the immediate future". Iranian state media reported that residential areas in Tehran were struck, with children among the casualties. These reports have not been independently verified. Death toll from Israeli attacks in Palestine exceeds 55, 000 In a separate claim, Iranian broadcasters said Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed during the strikes.  No official confirmation has been issued by Iranian authorities. The United States has denied any role in the attack. Speaking at a press briefing, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that the US had “no involvement or assistance in the Israeli operation”. International responses have started to emerge, with Australia expressing deep concern.  "We are alarmed by the sharp escalation and call for restraint from all sides," a spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs said. UK and alies sanction two far-right Israeli ministers over ‘Extremist Violence’ remarks The situation remains fluid as global powers monitor the fallout from the strikes and potential Iranian retaliation.  UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reportedly called for an emergency Security Council meeting. Source: With inputs from BBC 

Israel has launched an “extensive” ground operation across the Gaza Strip, as hospitals and medics report at least 140 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since dawn on Sunday. Among the dead are dozens of children. The strikes have forced the closure of northern Gaza’s main hospital amid intensifying violence. At least 69 people were killed in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, according to health officials. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in al-Mawasi, in southern Gaza, where an Israeli strike hit a camp for displaced people, killing dozens—including children—while they were asleep in their tents, hospital sources said. Russia launches biggest drone attack on Ukraine since start of war This marks Israel’s largest offensive since it shattered a ceasefire in March. The operation began on Saturday, reportedly aimed at seizing territory and displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The Israeli military has also called up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation for broader operations across both the north and south of Gaza. It remains unclear whether any zones have been designated as safe for civilians. Israel is pressuring Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire, one that would free hostages from Gaza but wouldn’t necessarily end the war. Hamas, however, says it wants a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and a path to ending the war as part of any deal. With inputs from AP, Al Jazeera

Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday killed at least 64 people, according to local hospitals, as U.S. President Donald Trump concluded a Middle East tour that excluded Israel and failed to deliver any hope for a ceasefire in the war-ravaged enclave. Health officials reported that 48 bodies were taken to the Indonesian Hospital and another 16 to Nasser Hospital following overnight strikes that hit areas near Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. The renewed wave of bombardments coincided with Trump’s departure from the Gulf region. Many had hoped his regional visit might lead to a ceasefire or a resumption of humanitarian aid, but those expectations went unmet. Meanwhile, Gaza remains under an Israeli blockade that has now stretched into its third month. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, which continued for hours and triggered panic and displacement in the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. These latest attacks follow days of intense shelling that, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, have killed over 130 people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier pledged a major escalation in military operations aimed at defeating Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. In remarks released Tuesday, Netanyahu stated that Israeli forces were preparing to enter Gaza “with great strength” to “complete the mission of destroying Hamas.” It remains unclear whether Friday’s bombardment marks the start of that operation.  54 killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on Southern Gaza’s Khan Younis An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said cabinet ministers were meeting Friday to evaluate ceasefire talks taking place in Qatar and to determine the next course of action. Meanwhile, families of hostages held by Hamas said they woke Friday with “heavy hearts” amid reports of intensified Israeli strikes. In a statement, they urged Netanyahu to work with President Trump to reach a deal for the hostages’ release. “Missing this historic opportunity to bring the hostages home would be a failure remembered in infamy,” said the statement, issued by a forum supporting hostage families. The war began after Hamas-led militants launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people. In response, Israel began a large-scale offensive in Gaza that has since killed over 53,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. Around 3,000 people have been killed since Israel resumed operations on March 18 following a brief ceasefire. Hamas still holds 58 of the approximately 250 hostages taken on October 7. Israeli authorities believe 23 of those are still alive, although they have raised concerns about the fate of at least three. Israel’s blockade on Gaza has cut off access to essential supplies like food, fuel, and medicine, deepening the humanitarian crisis. The Israeli government insists that aid will not be allowed in until a mechanism is in place that ensures its control over distribution, aimed at pressuring Hamas to release the hostages. Earlier this week, a new U.S.-backed humanitarian group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, announced it would begin aid delivery operations before the end of May, following agreements with Israeli officials. The group includes U.S. military veterans, former aid coordinators, and security personnel. However, several humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, criticized the initiative, saying it does not meet international humanitarian standards and will not be able to adequately address the needs of Palestinians in Gaza. They have opted not to participate.  Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 60, including 22 children

A series of Israeli airstrikes struck the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis overnight, killing at least 54 people, according to hospital officials. This marked the second night in a row of intense aerial bombardment. An Associated Press cameraman in the area reported at least 10 strikes overnight and witnessed numerous bodies being taken to Nasser Hospital’s morgue—some in fragments, with body bags containing the remains of multiple victims. The hospital confirmed the death toll at 54. Among the dead was Al Araby TV journalist Hasan Samour, who was reportedly killed alongside 11 family members in one of the strikes, according to a social media post by the Qatari news outlet. Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 60, including 22 children The Israeli military has not issued a statement regarding the attack. This wave of strikes followed a deadly previous night in which air raids in both northern and southern Gaza claimed at least 70 lives, including nearly 20 children. The escalation comes during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, where he is meeting with leaders in the Gulf but not traveling to Israel. Hopes had been high that the trip might result in a ceasefire or renewed humanitarian aid. Gaza remains under a strict Israeli blockade now in its third month. Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated plans to intensify military operations aimed at eradicating the Hamas militant group. His office stated on Tuesday that Israeli troops were preparing for a major ground push into Gaza “to finish the mission” of eliminating Hamas. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch accused Israel’s ongoing campaign and planned occupation of Gaza of approaching the threshold of extermination. The organization urged the global community to intervene. The current war began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people. In response, Israel launched a massive military campaign in Gaza, which has since killed nearly 53,000 Palestinians, including large numbers of women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Around 3,000 of those deaths occurred after Israel ended a ceasefire on March 18. Hamas continues to hold 58 hostages from the October 7 attack, with only 23 believed to still be alive, although Israeli officials have raised concerns about the condition of three of them. The war has devastated Gaza, destroying much of its infrastructure and displacing around 90% of the population—many of them multiple times. Israel cut off all aid, including food and medicine, on March 2. International food security experts have warned that famine is imminent unless the blockade is lifted and hostilities cease. Close to half a million Palestinians are on the brink of starvation, with another million struggling to survive, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global authority on hunger crises. Human Rights Watch has called for international action under the Genocide Convention, citing Israel’s actions—including destruction of civilian infrastructure and the blockade—as justification. Israel strongly denies any allegations of genocide. The group also urged Hamas to release the remaining hostages, especially the 23 believed to still be alive.

Israel carried out an airstrike early Friday near Syria’s presidential palace, delivering what it called a “clear message” to Damascus after warning authorities not to advance on villages inhabited by members of the Druze minority in the country’s south. The strike followed several days of fierce clashes between pro-government gunmen and Druze fighters in areas close to the capital, leaving dozens dead or injured, according to Associated Press. Syria’s presidency condemned the Israeli action, describing it as a “dangerous escalation against state institutions and the sovereignty of the state.” In a statement, it urged the international community to support Syria, stating the attack “target Syria national security and the unity of the Syrian people.” This marks Israel’s second strike in Syria within a week. The latest strike, near the People’s Palace — a hilltop residence in Damascus — is widely interpreted as a pointed warning to Syria’s new leadership, now reportedly dominated by Islamist groups including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The Israeli military confirmed that fighter jets had struck an area near the Palace of President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, without providing further details. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the strike was intended as “a clear message” to Syrian authorities. “We will not allow the deployment of forces south of Damascus or any threat to the Druze community,” they said. Israel committing ‘Livestreamed Genocide’ in Gaza: Amnesty Tensions had flared in recent days in southern Syria, particularly in the Sweida province and Druze-majority suburbs of Damascus. On Thursday, the community’s top spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, delivered a harsh rebuke to the Syrian government, accusing it of carrying out an “unjustified genocidal attack” on the minority group. Despite the mounting violence, the Druze leadership affirmed their national loyalty, stating early Friday that they remain part of Syria and reject any separatist aspirations. The statement called on the government to restore its authority in Sweida and secure the vital highway connecting the province with Damascus. The recent fighting was triggered by the circulation of an audio clip on social media late Monday. The clip, allegedly of a Druze cleric, criticised Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), sparking outrage among Sunni Muslims. However, the cleric in question, Marwan Kiwan, denied any involvement in a video message. Syria’s Information Ministry reported that 11 members of the security forces were killed in two separate attacks. Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll from four days of clashes had reached 99, including 51 killed in the Sahnaya area and the Druze-majority suburb of Jaramana. The dead included local gunmen and government forces. The Druze are a small religious sect that emerged in the 10th century as an offshoot of Ismaili Shiite Islam. Of the estimated 1 million Druze globally, more than half reside in Syria, particularly in Sweida and surrounding regions. Other significant communities live in Lebanon and Israel, including the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981.

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 39 people, mostly women and children, the territory’s Health Ministry said Thursday. Eleven people were killed when an airstrike struck a home in Gaza City on Thursday afternoon, adding to a toll of 28 announced by health officials earlier Thursday. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground war over a month ago. It has sealed off Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians from all food and other imports since the beginning of March to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 captives, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages. Most have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel’s offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. At least 45 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza: Civil Defense Israeli military says it was responsible for death of UN staffer last month The military initially denied it was responsible for the March 19 strike on a U.N. guesthouse in Gaza, which also wounded five other U.N. employees. Afterward, the U.N. concluded that an Israeli tank had struck the compound and said it had informed the military a day earlier that the location was a U.N facility. Releasing its initial findings on Wednesday, the military said one of its tanks targeted the building “due to assessed enemy presence” and that the structure “was not identified by the forces as a U.N. facility” at the time. The attack prompted the United Nations to reduce its presence in the Gaza Strip, citing safety concerns. Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day A somber siren wailed across the country for two minutes of silence at 10 am Thursday. Cars stopped along the highway and people paused in their daily errands as they stood in silence. Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust, is one of the most solemn dates on the country’s calendar. Official observances began after sundown on Wednesday with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. At the ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as “the main lesson of the Holocaust." “On this Holocaust Day, I promise: The military pressure on Hamas will continue. We will destroy all its capabilities. We will return all our hostages. We will defeat Hamas, and we will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. Israel’s president Isaac Herzog is in Poland for the annual March of the Living in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. He was joined by some 80 Holocaust survivors and 10 survivors of Hamas captivity in Gaza. Far-right Israeli minister booed at Yale Protesters booed and threw water bottles at Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was invited to speak at Yale University The minister, who has been convicted eight times for offenses including racism and supporting a terrorist organization, is in America on a week-long trip to meet with politicians, business leaders, and the Jewish community in the U.S. Israeli airstrikes kill senior Hamas leader, 18 others; Houthis launch missile toward Israel According to the Yale student newspaper, Ben-Gvir was invited to speak with a Jewish group that is not formally affiliated with the university. Ben-Gvir said he spoke to students and professors about the lessons of the Holocaust in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which Israel marks from Wednesday evening to Thursday. “The antisemitic rioters will not intimidate me. I am continuing my important journey in the United States,” he said. Ben-Gvir oversees the country’s police force and has encouraged Netanyahu to press ahead with the war in Gaza and stop all humanitarian aid. At least 28 dead as Israel pounds Gaza Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. At least nine people were killed in a strike on a police station in the northern Jabaliya area, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted a command and control center for Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group. At least seven people were killed, including a mother and her two children, and another two children, in three strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis. Strikes in central Gaza killed six people, including two women and two children. An airstrike on a home in Gaza City killed four children and their parents, the Health Ministry said.

When the first explosions struck Gaza at around 1:30 am this week, a visiting British doctor stepped onto the balcony of a hospital in Khan Younis and watched as missiles streaked across the sky before slamming into the city. Beside him, a Palestinian surgeon gasped, “Oh no. Oh no.” After two months of ceasefire, the devastation of Israeli bombardment had returned. The experienced surgeon turned to the visiting doctor, Sakib Rokadiya, and urged him to head to the emergency ward. Israel orders troops to go deeper into Gaza Soon, torn bodies poured in—brought by ambulances, donkey carts, or carried by desperate relatives. What shocked the doctors most was the number of children. “Child after child, young patient after young patient,” Rokadiya recalled. “The vast majority were women, children, and the elderly.” Thus began a chaotic 24 hours at Nasser Hospital, the largest medical facility in southern Gaza. The sudden Israeli offensive shattered the ceasefire that had been in place since mid-January, aiming to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and accepting revised terms of the truce. It became one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war. The aerial assaults killed 409 people across Gaza, including 173 children and 88 women, while hundreds more were wounded, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. More than 300 casualties inundated Nasser Hospital. Like other hospitals in Gaza, it had suffered damage from Israeli raids and airstrikes throughout the war, leaving it without essential equipment and running low on antibiotics and other necessities. After the first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 2, Israel blocked the entry of medicine, food, and supplies into Gaza. Triage The hospital’s emergency ward overflowed with the wounded, described to The Associated Press by Rokadiya and Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American paediatrician—both volunteers with the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. The injured came from a tent camp, where missiles had ignited a fire, and from homes struck in Khan Younis and Rafah, further south. A nurse was desperately trying to resuscitate a boy sprawled on the floor, shrapnel embedded in his heart. Nearby, a young man sat trembling, most of his arm missing. A barefoot boy carried in his younger brother, no older than four, whose foot had been blown off. Blood covered the floor, mixed with fragments of bone and tissue. “I was overwhelmed, running from corner to corner, trying to decide who to prioritise, who to send to surgery, who to declare beyond saving,” Haj-Hassan said. “It’s an incredibly difficult decision, and we had to make it repeatedly,” she said in a voice message. Some wounds were easy to overlook. One little girl seemed fine—she only felt pain when she breathed, she told Haj-Hassan. But once undressed, doctors realised she was bleeding into her lungs. Looking through the curly hair of another girl, Haj-Hassan discovered shrapnel embedded in her brain. Two or three injured patients were crammed onto gurneys and rushed to surgery, Rokadiya said. He scribbled notes on slips of paper or directly onto patients’ skin—one for surgery, another for a scan. He wrote names when he could, but many children arrived with no known relatives, their parents either dead, wounded, or lost in the chaos. Often, he simply wrote “UNKNOWN.” In the Operating Room Dr Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon from California volunteering with the medical charity MedGlobal, rushed to the hospital’s designated area for the gravely wounded who still had a chance of survival. But the first child he saw—a girl around three or four years old—was beyond help. Her face was torn apart by shrapnel. “She was technically still alive,” Sidhwa said, but with so many other patients needing urgent care, “there was nothing we could do.” He had to tell the girl’s father that she was dying. Then he moved on, performing around 15 surgeries back to back. Palestinian surgeon Khaled Alserr and an Irish volunteer surgeon worked tirelessly alongside him. They operated on a 29-year-old woman with a shattered pelvis, her web of veins bleeding profusely. Despite their efforts, she died 10 hours later in the ICU. Another patient was a six-year-old boy with two holes in his heart, two in his colon, and three more in his stomach, Sidhwa said. They managed to repair the damage and even restarted his heart after he went into cardiac arrest. But he, too, died hours later. “They died because the ICU simply didn’t have the capacity to care for them,” Sidhwa said. Ahmed al-Farra, head of the hospital’s paediatrics and obstetrics department, explained that the ICU lacked critical antibiotics, among other essential supplies. Israel resumes Gaza war with broader goals and fewer limits Sidhwa reflected on his experience at Boston Medical Center when the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing happened, killing three people and injuring around 260 others. “Boston Medical couldn’t have handled the number of cases we saw at Nasser Hospital,” he said. The Hospital Staff Rokadiya was struck by the resilience of the hospital staff as they cared for each other while under immense pressure. Workers moved through the hospital, handing out water to exhausted doctors and nurses. Cleaners worked swiftly to remove the bloodied clothing, blankets, tissues, and medical waste piling up on the floors. At the same time, many staff members were dealing with personal tragedies. Alserr, the Palestinian surgeon, had to go to the morgue to identify the bodies of his wife’s father and brother. “The only thing I saw was a bundle of flesh and bones, melted and shattered,” he said in a voice message, without elaborating on how they were killed. Another staff member lost his wife and children. An anaesthesiologist—who had already lost his mother and 21 relatives earlier in the war—later received word that his father, brother, and cousin had been killed, Haj-Hassan said. The Aftermath Around 85 people died at Nasser Hospital that Tuesday, including about 40 children between the ages of one and 17, al-Farra reported. Airstrikes continued throughout the week, killing several dozen more. Among the dead were at least six senior Hamas figures. Israel has vowed to continue its offensive against Hamas, insisting the group must release more hostages, despite having disregarded ceasefire conditions requiring negotiations for a long-term end to the war. The Israeli government maintains it does not target civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths, arguing that the group operates within civilian areas. Tuesday’s bombardment also helped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consolidate his political standing. The offensive secured the return of a right-wing party to his coalition, strengthening his government ahead of a crucial budget vote that could have led to its collapse. Haj-Hassan continues to check on the children in Nasser’s ICU. The girl with shrapnel in her brain remains unable to move her right side. Her mother, limping from her own injuries, came to see her and told Haj-Hassan that the little girl’s sisters had been killed. “I cannot begin to process or comprehend the scale of mass killing and the slaughter of families in their sleep that we are witnessing here,” Haj-Hassan said. “This cannot be the world we live in.”