Israel Lays Siege to Gazas Hospitals, Strikes Jabaliya Refugee Camp Amid Telecoms Blackout

Israel’s unceasing bombardment of the Gaza Strip has entered its seventh week, with fresh attacks on residential buildings in the Jabaliya refugee camp that killed at least 18 people. On Thursday, Gaza’s main telecommunications companies went out of service due to a lack of fuel for generators, plunging most of the besieged territory into another communications blackout. Israeli troops occupied the Al-Shifa Hospital for a third straight day, where some 7,000 trapped medical workers and patients face a worsening humanitarian crisis. A doctor at Al-Shifa said 43 out of 63 intensive care patients who were on ventilators have now died after supplies of oxygen and fuel ran out; a “large number” of premature babies have also died due to Israel’s siege on the hospital.