January 29 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Vital medical services at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, have collapsed, aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned Monday.

The hospital’s surgical capacity is now “almost non-existent” and the handful of remaining medical staff are left with “very low supplies that are insufficient to handle mass casualty events,” the international medical aid group — also known as Doctors Without Borders — said. 

There are between 300 and 350 patients left at Nasser hospital who are unable to evacuate, MSF said.

MSF also shared the testimony of one nurse, identified only as Rami, who they said was trapped inside Nasser hospital. He said five dead people and 50 wounded arrived at the emergency room on Thursday, but there was no one to care for them.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have called on residents in the vicinity of the Al-Amal hospital to evacuate, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

The PRCS said Israeli drones equipped with loudspeakers on Monday issued a call to residents to leave the area near the hospital in the Al-Amal neighborhood and relocate to the Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, amid continued heavy fighting in the city in southern Gaza.

It is not clear how many people have heeded the call. There have been multiple reports of people being injured or killed while trying to flee Khan Younis.

Earlier on Monday, CNN reported that there was heavy fighting around the Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Luxembourg will continue to provide funding to the main United Nations agency in Gaza despite allegations that some of its staff were involved in Hamas' October 7 terror attacks, the country’s foreign minister said on Monday. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired several employees in the wake of the allegations made by Israel, which have not been made public.

Bettel said he thought UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini made the “right decision to kick them out directly” but also to have an inquiry about what happened.

Several countries — including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Italy and others — announced they would suspend funding for UNRWA in the wake of the allegations.

Iran has distanced itself from the attack which killed three United States troops at a US outpost in Jordan on Sunday, and said in a statement that accusations against the Islamic republic are “baseless.”

The foreign ministry’s spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement on Monday that “regional resistance” groups do not take orders from Iran.

US President Joe Biden vowed to hold accountable those responsible for the deaths and placed blame for the attacks on Iran-backed militant groups.

Sunday's drone attack on Tower 22 near the Syrian border marks the first time US troops have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the beginning of the war in Gaza. At least 34 US service members were also injured in the attack.

Israeli government ministers and members of the Knesset joined a rally in Jerusalem on Sunday calling for the resettlement of Gaza by Israelis and an expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told the crowd the only way to prevent attacks like the one perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 was for Israel to control the Palestinian territories.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told the rally that Israel would not have security without further settlement construction, while communications minister Shlomo Karhi said God had given Gaza to the Jewish people and that there would never be a Palestinian state.

Hamas condemned the gathering in a statement on Monday and said the rally revealed the “hidden intentions” of the Israeli government to displace and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country does not intend to maintain a permanent presence in Gaza again, but that it would maintain security control over the territory for an indefinite period of time.

An Israeli soldier was seriously injured on Monday in the port of Haifa, close to the Israeli naval headquarters, after being hit by a car, police said.

The driver then left the car with an axe, police added, before being shot and killed by security forces. He has not been identified.

A medic at the scene said that the injured man was conscious and suffering from severe bruises on his lower limbs.

He was evacuated to hospital where he's said to be in a serious condition.

Heavy fighting continues in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with the Palestine Red Crescent Society saying that Al Amal hospital continues to be surrounded by Israeli troops.

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday its aircraft struck "two compounds used as terrorist infrastructure and killed armed terrorists" inside.

Israel frequently asserts that Hamas militants are using civilian infrastructure such as hospitals as cover for their operations.

Fighting in the area has raged for more than a week, making the Al Amal and Nasser hospitals difficult and sometimes impossible to access.

Austria has become the latest country to suspend payments to the United Nations relief agency in Gaza after Israel accused some of its staff members of involvement in Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks.

Since October 7, Austria had provided 13 million euros (about $14 million) to the population in Gaza, the statement said.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has threatened to take legal action against Israeli officials if reporters working in Gaza are targeted by the military.

In an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant published Saturday, the IFJ said around 10% of journalists working in Gaza had been killed during the Israel-Hamas war.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a separate non-profit that promotes press freedom, said on Sunday that 83 journalists and media workers had been killed since the war began on October 7. Of those, 76 were Palestinians, four Israeli and three Lebanese.

The IFJ's letter called on Israel to publish specific policies and procedures to ensure that military personnel would protect journalists.

The Israeli military has previously said it never intentionally targets journalists.