– We only have one goal, and that is to win. We strike on the ground and underground, Netanyahu continues about the developments in Gaza.
He also warns Hezbollah in Lebanon against escalating the war and says Israel will strike hard if the Iran-backed militia attacks Israel.
The highest priority for Israel is to get home the 240 hostages that Hamas took on October 7.
– We will do everything to get them back. We won’t stop until we’re done with it, he says in Saturday’s televised address.
Evacuate toddlers
Fierce fighting is taking place between Israel and terrorist-branded Hamas at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. Aid workers describe the situation as catastrophic.
Israel’s military announces that it will assist in the evacuation of small children from the hospital.
“The staff at al-Shifa hospital have requested that we help move children in the children’s ward to a safer hospital tomorrow,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement on Saturday evening.
Two premature babies who received intensive care are said to have died during the day as a result of power cuts, and more are at risk.
The situation at the hospital is described as getting worse.
“In recent hours, the attacks on al-Shifa hospital have intensified dramatically,” writes the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a statement on Saturday morning.
20 of the total of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip have ceased to function, according to the UN’s coordination body Ocha.
– There is no electricity. Medical equipment has stopped working. Patients have started to die, especially those in intensive care, said hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmia by phone to the AP reporter, adding that Israeli military is shooting at “everyone” both outside and inside the hospital, making it impossible to move between the hospital’s different buildings .
Communication broken
The claim that the fire comes exclusively from the Israeli side has not been confirmed by independent sources. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli army, says that soldiers are “in the midst of fighting” with Hamas near the hospital, but that every effort is being made to avoid civilian casualties.
The al-Shifa hospital is the largest in the Gaza Strip and is centrally located in Gaza City. Israeli forces have reportedly surrounded three hospitals in Gaza City, and all communications with al-Shifa have been severed, the Saudi-owned media house al-Arabiyya said. At the same time, Israeli forces are advancing on the hospital from four directions.
Many have taken refuge in the hospital, and AFP correspondents testify to how people are cooking in liquor kitchens and eating on the floor while the explosions rumble like thunder outside. A Gaza resident who came to the hospital with his injured daughter says that the girl starts shaking every time she hears the sound.
Several patients, both children and adults, are said to have died as a result of power cuts.
Close to 200,000 people have fled northern Gaza in the past three days and made their way south, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.