Click to see full-size image. Source: the Israeli Defense Forces.
On November 12, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that troops of its Harel Reserve Brigade had captured the al-Karameh area in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
The area, which is named after a local hospital, is located right between the city of Beit Hanoun and the Jabalia refugee camp.
The IDF said that during the raids, the troops destroyed infrastructure of the Hamas Movement in al-Karameh, including long-range rocket launchers aimed at Israel, anti-tank missile launch positions, tunnels and observation posts. The Harel Brigade troops also killed several Hamas fighters during the fighting in the area, according to the IDF.
Clashes were reported in other parts of northern Gaza. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that its fighters destroyed three main battle tanks of the IDF in the southwestern outskirts of Gaza City and an armored personnel carrier in the city’s northwestern outskirts with rocket-propelled grenades.
In addition, an Israeli commando unit situated in the northern outskirts of Beit Hanon city was also targeted with an explosive device.
From its side, the al-Quds Brigades said that its fighters managed to damage several vehicles of the IDF with explosive devices in the western and southern outskirts of Gaza City.
Heavy clashes also continued near al-Shifa Hospital. The spokesman for the health ministry in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qudra, told Al Jazeera that the hospital is completely out of service, and cannot provide any treatment even to the patients inside the facility, due to constant Israeli attacks.
Israeli bombing has been targeting the vicinity’s external surroundings as well as anyone walking inside the courtyard and between its various buildings, and those wanting to reach the gate of the complex.
“We have deaths in the nursery after the life support machines stopped working inside the section that includes 37 other children who may be on the verge of death,” al-Qudra said.
He added that there were five deaths among the wounded as the medical teams were unable to perform surgical operations on them due to the power outage and lack of fuel.
As hospitals in northern Gaza and other parts of the Strip are facing unprecedented pressure, the health ministry has not provided any new update on the number of casualties since November 11. However, the death toll is believed to have exceeded 11,100.
Despite recent reports of a near prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, the IDF will not likely halt its ground operations in northern Gaza any time soon. In fact, it appears the Israeli troops are preparing to further develop their offensive in the Strip.
