Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, said that the situation at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City has grown increasingly dire and that a cease-fire is necessary to preserve civilian lives.
“The hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore,” he said Sunday. It comes amid reports of multiple attacks on and near hospitals in Gaza as fighting in the city intensifies.
The Israeli Defense Forces late Saturday denied that Al-Shifa was under siege and said it would help evacuate babies from the hospital.
On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for “immediate pauses” in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to assist Palestinian civilians stranded in the besieged and resource-deprived Gaza enclave.
“I’m saying that in plural: Not a single one, but several pauses,” he highlighted Monday, while speaking to reporters in Brussels. “Immediate pauses and humanitarian corridors to be established in order to face the dire situation of the people in Gaza.”
Borrell also called on Israel “to exercise maximum restraint to ensure the protection of civilians.”
Fire exchanges have intensified between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah over the past day.
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday reported they had identified 15 launches from Lebanon in the course of an hour, with seven of its soldiers wounded during the engagement.
Two further mortar launches were recorded crossing into Israel from Lebanese territory as early as Monday morning, this time producing no casualties, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on social media.
The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar news outlet said Israeli artillery and other “enemy” forces shot at several sites in Lebanon, including the Aita al-Shaab town, Chihine municipality and the city of Naqoura.
Image: Fadel Senna | AFP | Getty Images
