GAZA/BAGHDAD - At least 80 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, said Palestinian medical sources.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported that 54 people, including women and children, were killed in strikes on the southern city, according to a press statement.
According to Gaza-based health authorities, the Gaza European Hospital, the only hospital providing medical follow-up care to cancer patients in the enclave, was out of service due to recent Israeli attacks.
The Israeli attacks "caused significant damage to infrastructure, such as sewage lines, damage to internal departments, and destruction of roads leading to the hospital," the authorities said in a press statement.
Meanwhile, medical sources told Xinhua that 26 others were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City and other areas in northern Gaza.
The airstrikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that the Israeli military would enter Gaza "with full force" in the coming days to press forward with efforts to defeat Hamas.
Israel resumed large-scale military operations in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire. Since then, 2,876 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,800 injured, according to health officials in Gaza.
The total Palestinian death toll since the war erupted on Oct 7, 2023, has reached 53,010, the officials said on Thursday.
Israel is using a policy of "reducing space and emptying populated areas to pressure citizens," Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza, told Xinhua on Thursday.
He also claimed that thousands of people spent the night in the streets amid threats of strikes on schools and shelters housing the displaced, adding that Israeli forces were obstructing emergency teams from reaching victims and systematically destroying Civil Defense infrastructure.
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'Not for sale'
Also on Thursday, a senior Hamas official said that the Gaza Strip is the rightful and exclusive property of the Palestinian people and "not a building up for sale in a real estate market," as tensions persist amid ongoing Israeli military operations in the coastal enclave.
In a press statement, Hamas official Basem Naim said that Palestinians remain firmly committed to their land and are prepared to make all necessary sacrifices to defend it.
Commenting on US President Donald Trump's recent remarks on ending global conflicts, Naim said such a plan cannot be realized as long as "the war in Gaza continues."
Central focus
The Palestinian issue will remain a central focus in the upcoming 34th Arab League Summit slated for Saturday in Baghdad, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Thursday.
Hussein made the remarks during a preparatory meeting of Arab foreign ministers, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
He described the summit as taking place at a critical moment in the history of Arab nations, calling for unified efforts and strengthened collective action to address shared challenges.
