At least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the enclave's health officials said.
Israel's military has accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said "dozens of terrorists" have been hiding there. Health officials and Hamas deny the charge.
Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had dismantled the Hamas command structure, is currently the main focus of the military's assault in the enclave. Earlier last month, it sent tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya to flush out militants it alleged had regrouped there.
Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital, told Reuters that some staff members had suffered minor burns after the Israeli strike hit the third floor of the hospital.
There were no reports of any casualties at the hospital, which Israeli forces stormed and briefly occupied last week. Israel said it had captured about 100 suspected Hamas militants in that raid. Israeli tanks are still stationed nearby.
The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip called for all international bodies "to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the (Israeli) occupation".
The Israeli military said its forces are operating in the hospital area based on intelligence about the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the vicinity.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Thursday that one of its doctors at the hospital, Mohammed Obeid, had been detained on Saturday by Israeli forces. It called for the protection of the doctor and all medical staff members who "are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care".
The Palestine-Israel conflict began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct 7 last year, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble, Palestinian authorities said.
Renewed attention
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is working to bring renewed international attention to the two-state solution, hosting a meeting of a global alliance dedicated to advancing Palestinian statehood.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution on Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud condemned the escalating violence in Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the spread of conflict across the region.
He urged the international community to respond firmly to Israeli violations of international law, saying these actions undermine the prospects for a two-state solution and contribute to instability.
The alliance, first announced in September, brings together countries from the Middle East, Europe and beyond.
Nearly 90 states and international organizations were taking part in the two-day meeting in the Saudi capital, Faisal bin Farhan said.
"The region is witnessing an escalation and continuation of Israeli aggression on Palestine and Lebanon," he was quoted as saying by Arab News.
"The escalation of this conflict regionally and maybe internationally urges us all to take a firm and immediate stance to put an end to the crimes and violations committed by Israel. Convictions and partial solutions are no longer enough."
The establishment of a State of Palestine "is the Kingdom's condition for moving forward with normalization with Israel", he was quoted as saying by Turkiye's Anadolu Agency.
Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, told China Daily that the diplomatic move of Saudi Arabia "aims to transfer the Palestinian cause from a floating process in the UN to practical steps toward the two-state solution".
"This means that the countries who back this solution for the conflict need to declare real political commitment to implement it," she said.
Jan Yumul in Hong Kong contributed to this story.
