Even after carrying out genocide in Gaza for the past five months, Israel has failed to eliminate the Palestinian Hamas Movement. In other words, Hamas has registered a moral victory against the imperialist Jewish State. Hence, a frustrated Israel launched missile attacks on Al-Shifa Hospital on March 18 (2024) morning, claiming that the Palestinian Movement was regrouping there. According to sources close to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, nearly 30,000 people were trapped at the hospital complex due to indiscriminate shelling that claimed hundreds of lives, apart from destroying a building inside the complex.

On March 18, Israel issued a statement, defending its action in Gaza. According to the statement, the Israeli Forces carried out a reasonably accurate attack in Al-Shifa. The Israeli authorities also mentioned that they believed the Hamas base in northern Gaza had been completely destroyed a few days ago. Later, they came to know that Hamas rebuilt a base in Al-Shifa Hospital complex. Jerusalem wanted to destroy that base before being attacked by Hamas. Hence, the Israeli Forces carried out missile attacks. They also distributed leaflets near Al-Shifa Hospital complex, asking local residents to leave the area as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Hamas urged the UN and other international organisations to save the largest hospital in Gaza immediately after the Israeli missile attacks. In a statement, the Palestinian Movement stressed that Israel had no military success other than killing innocent civilians, sick children and patients. Hamas also claimed that Israel attacked the hospital to continue genocide!

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu indicated that the attacks would continue in the Gaza Strip and also in Rafah, stating that he approved the Army’s plan to take every necessary action in Gaza in order to completely destroy Hamas. Although Prime Minister Netanyahu assured the global community that the attacks would be carried out only after removing the common people from those areas, the Palestinians described his assurance as a lie. As most of the Gazans have taken shelter in Rafah to save their lives, they are in real danger now.

Also on March 18, Mossad Chief David Barnea reportedly held a meeting with Prime Minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and top Egyptian diplomats in Doha to discuss a Israel-Hamas Truce. The local media reported that Barnea left Doha on March 19 and was back in Israel to brief the War Cabinet on the negotiations to reach a truce and hostage deal with Hamas. It may be noted that the European Union (EU) and the US recently changed their tune, asking Israel to stop the war. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected the request.

At least 31,726 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Forces since the conflict began on October 7, 2023, while 73,792 people have received serious injuries. Now, the lives of hundreds of innocent Palestinians depend on a ceasefire.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das