23 December 2024 | 12:33 CAT
3-minute read

This week’s Palestine Report with Moulana Ebrahim Moosa:

• Genocidal onslaught on Kamal Adwan hospital
• Jabaliya is a wasteland, but resistance efforts are increasing
• Syria: broader context of Israeli ambitions

Israel intensifies attacks on Kamal Adwan hospital

Situated in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the hospital has endured sustained attacks for weeks and has become the epicentre of intense Israeli military aggression over the past week, with violence escalating significantly over the past several days.

The hospital, named after Kamal Abdel Hafiz Adwan, a Palestinian politician and one of the top leaders in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation who was killed during a 1973 Israeli raid in Lebanon, is one of the few remaining healthcare facilities in the area.

Critical departments, including the neonatal and intensive care units, have come under heavy shelling and sniper fire. Patients in these units have been moved to hospital corridors in an attempt to protect them from further harm. Supplies of basic necessities such as food, water, and electricity have dwindled, leaving much of the hospital in darkness, with generator power directed solely to essential services.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, has made urgent appeals to the international community, stating that the medical system in Gaza is collapsing. The hospital’s mortuary is overwhelmed, with the bodies of martyrs piling up due to restricted movement in the area. Adding to the devastation, booby-trapped robots have been deployed by the Israeli military, causing destruction without direct involvement of their forces.

Efforts to evacuate critically injured patients have been rendered impossible due to a lack of ambulances, while neighbouring medical facilities are unequipped to handle the scale and complexity of the casualties. Dr Abu Safiya said, “We hold the world accountable for ignoring our pleas for over 70 days.”

The assault on Kamal Edwan Hospital mirrors the tragic targeting of healthcare facilities in Gaza, including the attack on Shifa Hospital. Observers warn against growing desensitisation to such atrocities, as international outrage remains muted.

Jabalia: A wasteland of destruction; resistance efforts increase

In the Jabalia refugee camp, relentless bombardments over nearly three months have reduced the northern Gaza settlement to ruins. Reports estimate that 70% of its infrastructure has been destroyed, leaving behind miles of rubble and devastation.

Despite the scale of destruction, some residents remain steadfast, refusing to leave their homes. Palestinian resistance groups have also demonstrated remarkable adaptability, employing innovative tactics against Israeli forces. These include close-proximity confrontations, improvised weapons, and face-to-face combat.

Among recent operations, resistance fighters launched a surprise attack on Israeli forces stationed in the area, using confiscated grenades and engaging in direct clashes. These actions highlight the determination of Gaza’s defenders to counter Israel’s technologically advanced military operations.

Resistance fighters have demonstrated the ability to adapt to Israeli strategies, leveraging personal combat skills and creative improvisation to achieve gains against a superiorly equipped military.

Syria: broader context of Israeli ambitions

Emerging reports reveal that Israel sought to reshape Syria’s geopolitical landscape before the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. According to Middle East Eye, Israel aimed to divide Syria into three zones, forging ties with the Kurds in the northeast and the Druze in the south while confining Assad to Damascus under Emirati influence.

This plan intended to weaken Syria while restricting revolutionary Islamic influence to Idlib in the northwest. However, intervention by Turkey and Syrian revolutionaries disrupted these ambitions. The subsequent fall of Assad has left Israel recalibrating its strategies in the region, now contending with an increasingly united Sunni world.

Criticism has also been directed at the UAE and Jordan for facilitating Israel’s plans in Syria, raising questions about their roles in Gaza’s current crisis. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned that Israel’s expansionist agenda could eventually target Turkey itself.

Listen to the Palestine Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Habib Bobat.