Northern Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of the invasion, and entire neighbourhoods have been obliterated. It is now the epicenter of Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe, with many residents reduced to eating animal feed. At least 27 people, mostly children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration in the north, according to the Health Ministry.A spokesman for the Israeli military body that deals with Palestinian issues, Shimon Freeman, said Israel “places no limit on the amount of aid that can enter the Gaza Strip” and encourages countries to send aid. Israel has accused U.N. bodies of failing to distribute aid in a timely manner. Aid groups say distribution is impossible in much of Gaza because of hostilities, the difficulty of coordinating with the military and the breakdown of law and order.Alex de Waal, the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University and an expert on global famines, said Israel has had “ample warning” that if it continued to destroy key infrastructure, displace large numbers of people and obstruct aid operations, the results would be catastrophic.“In failing to change course, it is culpable for these deaths,” he said.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was up to Israel to facilitate more aid.“Israel has to do it. It is not a question of logistics. It is not because the United Nations has not provided enough support,” he said. “Trucks are stopped. People are dying, while the land crossings are artificially closed.”‘We’re trapped inside’The raid on Shifa Hospital began before dawn, when Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery surrounded the complex and troops stormed into a number of buildings.“We’re trapped inside,” said Abdel-Hady Sayed, who has been sheltering in the facility for months. “They fire at anything moving.”In the evening, he said tanks were still in the hospital yard, and he could see three bodies outside the gates. “We can’t retrieve the dead,” he said.Gaza’s Health Ministry said around 30,000 people are sheltering at the hospital, including patients, medical staff and people who have fled their homes seeking safety. The war has displaced around 80% of Gaza’s population.Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief Israeli military spokesperson, said senior Hamas militants had regrouped in the hospital and were directing attacks from inside.Among those killed in the raid was Faiq Mabhouh, a senior officer in the Gaza police, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-led government but distinct from the militant group’s armed fighting wing. The Israeli military said he was armed and hiding in Shifa, and that weapons were found in an adjacent room.The Gaza government said Mabhouh was in charge of protecting aid distribution in the north and coordinating between aid groups and local tribes. Aid groups say Israeli strikes on police are one reason public order has collapsed, leading to desperate Palestinians overwhelming aid trucks on the road.Hagari said the patients and medical staff could remain in the medical complex and that safe passage was available for civilians who wanted to leave.
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