On Monday, the United Nations Security Council demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, the release of hostages held by militants, and “ensuring humanitarian access”.Member states are obliged to abide by such resolutions, but fighting has continued and the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity on Friday said nothing has changed on the ground.Aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies required to meet basic humanitarian needs have been allowed in since October, when Israel placed Gaza under near-total siege.Israel has blamed shortages on the Palestinian side, namely a lack of capacity to distribute assistance once it gets in.Humanitarians say trucking is the most effective way to deliver the aid but, they say, the number of vehicles allowed in is still far from sufficient.With limited ground access, several nations have begun aid airdrops, and a sea corridor from Cyprus has delivered its first cargo of food.People rushing for food drowned and were trampled to death when parachuted aid parcels fell into the sea this week, illustrating the dangers and desperation.Heavy damageThe UN says Gaza’s health system is collapsing “due to ongoing hostilities and access constraints”.The Israeli military accuses Hamas and another militant group, Islamic Jihad, of hiding inside medical facilities, using patients, staff and displaced people for cover — charges the militants have denied.On Friday the army said it was “continuing precise operation activities in Shifa Hospital” where it began a raid early last week.Troops had raided Al-Shifa in November, before Israel in January announced it had “completed the dismantling” of Hamas’s command structure in northern Gaza. Palestinian militants and commanders had since returned to Al-Shifa, the army said at the start of its latest operation there.About 200 militants have been killed during the current operation, the military said.Near Al-Amal Hospital in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, troops carried out “targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure”, killing dozens in combat backed by air support, the army said on Thursday.
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