Israeli forces are striking the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and injuring dozens more as talks between Israel and Hamas face multiple obstacles.
Doctors in bombed enclave said Israeli soldiers also searched some schools sheltering families who fled their homes on Wednesday in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
The strike killed three Palestinians, including a child, and injured several others.
The attack came shortly after a previous attack targeted a residential building in Gaza City, killing a pregnant woman.
According to Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, medics were able to save the child but “the mother lost”.
“Things have become difficult at every level in the Gaza Strip,” Khoudary said.
“Elsewhere, the most famous Palestinian writer (Walaa Jumaa al-Ifranji) was killed along with her husband (Ahmed Saeed Salama) in an Israeli attack on their home south of the Nuseirat refugee camp,” he added.
An Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed two more people on Wednesday.
Separately, several Palestinians were killed and wounded in al-Mawasi, an area that Israel has declared a “safe zone” for people who have fled their homes in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, where the army said it carried out an attack on a soldier. of Hamas.
Israeli soldiers often target refugee camps and school dormitories, killing mostly women and children in the camps. violence since October last year, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians.
The military also targets hospitals and clinics. In the besieged north, where the Israeli army launched a new offensive more than two months ago, one of the last working hospitals in Gaza has come under heavy Israeli attack.
The siege of Israel Kamal Adwan Hospital has increased over the past few days, and Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud says it is now “unable to operate due to constant attacks and the use of explosive devices”.
Gaza's Ministry of Health said that Israeli forces will continue to surround two other hospitals that are not working while surrounding Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Jabalia.
Israeli forces forced officials at an Indonesian hospital to evacuate patients and staff on Tuesday and continue operations at the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. He also ordered the evacuation of the hospital, but the authorities refused, citing the risk to many patients.
Palestinians have criticized Israel for wanting to evacuate all the people in northern Gaza to create a safe zone.
The Israeli attack came as Palestinians in Gaza saw another dramatic Christmas.
Pope Francis to be criticized The humanitarian situation in Gaza is “worse” and he called for the release of Israeli prisoners who were part of Hamas in his Christmas address at the Vatican.
“There should be peace, the hostages should be released and help should be given to people who are tired of hunger and war,” he said.
The ceasefire talks failed
Meanwhile, Hamas and Israel traded blame on Wednesday for failing to finalize a ceasefire deal despite progress by both sides in recent days.
Hamas said Israel had set new standards as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of rolling back what had already been achieved.
“This operation has established new conditions regarding evacuations, ceasefires, prisoners, and the return of refugees, which have delayed the implementation of the existing agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas said, however, that it was showing flexibility and that talks, held between Qatar and Egypt, were progressing.
Netanyahu criticized Hamas, saying that the group “continues to lie, contradicts the understandings that have already been reached and continues to cause difficulties in the negotiations”.
Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening to discuss the deal after a long week of talks, Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday.
The United States and two Arab mediators have worked hard to reach an agreement in the past two weeks.