At least 26 Palestinians have been killed since dawn across Gaza in Israeli attacks, medical sources have told Al Jazeera, as the besieged and bombarded enclave’s decimated health system, overwhelmed by a daily flow of wounded, is forcing doctors to make decisions on who to treat first.
In the latest killings on Friday, three people died in an Israeli attack on the Tuffah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City. Five people were also killed in an Israeli air attack in Jabalia an-Nazla, in northern Gaza.
Earlier, an Israeli attack hit tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza – previously designated a so-called “safe zone” – igniting a major fire and killing at least five people, including infants. Al-Mawasi has come under repeated, deadly Israeli fire.
The death toll also includes includes six people who were desperately seeking aid.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Hani Mahmoud said the injured, including children, were transferred to Nasser Hospital. Some showed wounds compatible with drone attacks.
“Drone missiles are packed with nails, metals and shrapnel that explodes at high speed, causing internal bleeding,” Mahmoud said. “These attacks are on the rise and target people in large crowds, in markets or while queueing for water.
“While Israel claims to be using sophisticated weapons, when we look on the ground, we see the number of casualties contradicting what Israel is [saying],” he added.
‘What should we do? Die at home?’
Israel’s ongoing, punishing blockade of Gaza is forcing doctors in crammed medical facilities to make difficult decisions about who to treat.
Patients with chronic illnesses are often the first to miss out because emergency departments are overwhelmed by people wounded in Israeli attacks.
“Before the war, I used to receive dialysis three times a week, with each session lasting four hours. At that time, the situation was stable, the treatment was effective, and we would return home feeling well and rested,” Omda Dagmash, a dialysis patient, told Al Jazeera at the barely functioning al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
“Now we can barely make the journey to the hospital, particularly since we are not eating well.”
At al-Shifa, the dialysis schedule has been scaled down to shorter and less frequent sessions. For some, it is a matter of life and death.
“The journey here is long and costly,” said Rowaida Minyawi, an elderly patient. “After all this exhaustion, we sometimes can’t find treatment. I have heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Even the medicine we get is not good. What should we do? Die at home?”
Besides prioritising patients, healthcare workers say they have to scale back operations to the minimum, as no fuel means no power – and no way to save lives.
“Only a few departments are working. We had to cut electricity to the rest,” said Ziad Abu Humaidan, from the hospital’s engineering department.
“The hospital’s yards turned into graveyards rather than a place of care and healing. Without electricity, there is no lighting, no functioning medical equipment, and no support for other essential services.”
Waning support in Israel for war
According to a public opinion survey conducted by the Israeli news outlet Maariv, about 44 percent of the Israeli public said the continued war in Gaza will not achieve the country’s goals.
A total of 42 percent of those surveyed said they believe the fighting will lead to achieving the goals, while 11 percent of the respondents said they are undecided.
Maariv also noted that of those who support the current coalition government, 73 percent think the military will achieve its goals, while 70 percent of opposition supporters think otherwise.
In the meantime, Israel faced a rare backlash on Thursday after it bombed Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people and wounding at least 10.
United States President Donald Trump contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after having “not a positive reaction” to the strike, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
After the call, Netanyahu attributed the strike to “stray ammunition” and added that Israel was investigating the incident.
Hamas slammed the attack as “a new crime committed against places of worship and innocent displaced persons” that comes in the context of a “war of extermination against the Palestinian people”.
