Israeli army targets hospitals amid deadly onslaught in northern Gaza

The Israeli army continued to target hospitals on Tuesday as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with a deadly offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, according to witnesses.

Witnesses said Israeli forces laid a siege around the Indonesian Hospital in eastern Jabalia amid heavy gunfire around the facility.

The army ordered the medical staff, patients, and displaced civilians taking shelter at the hospital to evacuate the medical facility and head to Gaza City immediately, they added.

An Israeli artillery shell also hit the Al-Awda Hospital in Tel al-Zaatar area in Jabalia, witnesses said.

The attack came hours after the hospital administration warned of relentless Israeli airstrikes in its vicinity, causing several fires.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army continued to blow up Palestinian homes and residential buildings around the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern town of Beit Lahia, witnesses said.

Israel has continued a large-scale ground operation in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

Since then, no sufficient humanitarian aid including food, medicine and fuel has been allowed into the area, leaving the remaining population on the verge of imminent famine.

The onslaught was the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 45,300 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.