CAIRO, Oct 31 (Reuters/AFP): 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 Hamas' command structure, is currently the main focus of the military's assault in the enclave. Earlier this month it sent tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya to flush out militants it said had regrouped in the area.
Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan - which is in Beit Lahiya - told Reuters some staff 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 around 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".
Hunger deaths 'likely'
in Gaza, Sudan,
Mali, Haiti: UN
UN food agencies warned Thursday of deadly hunger levels in 16 "hunger hotspots" in coming months, with the Palestinian territories, Sudan and South Sudan, Mali and Haiti of most concern.
Conflict is driving most of the acute food insecurity in all those areas analysed by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme.
Extreme weather was a major factor in other regions, while economic inequality and high debt in many developing countries are hurting governments' capacity to react, according to the joint report covering forecasts for November 2024 to May 2025.
Humanitarian action was urgently needed to prevent starvation and death in the Palestinian territories, Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali, said the report, based on research by experts from the two Rome-based United Nations agencies.
