The Israeli occupation forces continued their ground attack on the besieged Gaza Strip for the 59th day, as their warplanes bombed all parts of the Strip, and renewed their demands on the people of Khan Yunis to flee en masse towards Rafah or the coastal area in the south. In response, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades bombed the occupation forces and carried out several ambushes for the Israeli special forces in various places in the northern Gaza Strip, especially in Al-Faluja. On Monday, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qudra, said: "The number of martyrs has risen to 15,899 since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Strip, 70% of whom are children and women." He added that the occupation forces destroyed 56 health institutions, arrested 35 medical personnel, and rendered the health system in the Gaza Strip completely incapacitated. Al-Qudra called on the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) to protect hospitals and health and humanitarian teams and to provide safe passage for the entry of medical supplies and fuel and the exit of the wounded. Meanwhile, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoliarić Egger, called -from Gaza- for the protection of civilians and respect for the laws of war. She said, during a field visit to the Gaza Strip, that the level of human suffering is unbearable and it is unacceptable for civilians not to have a safe place in Gaza. She pointed out that there is currently no adequate humanitarian response in light of the existing military siege on Gaza. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) also confirmed the displacement of nearly 1.9 million people inside Gaza since the start of the Israeli war, which represents more than 80% of the Strip's population. The agency said in a statement that the number of its employees killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Strip about two months ago had risen to 111 employees. On the ground, Abu Ubaida, the military spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that the Al-Qassam fighters completely or partially destroyed 28 military vehicles on all fighting fronts in the Gaza Strip during the last 24 hours. Also on Monday, the Al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters raided an Israeli force stationed in Beit Hanoun from a tunnel with bombs and machine guns, killing and wounding members of the force. Al-Qassam added that it targeted "a special Zionist force" holed up inside a building east of Beit Lahia with a TGB anti-fortified missile. The Brigades said in a separate statement that they targeted "an Israeli tank and a Zionist engineering vehicle" east of Beit Lahia with "Al-Yassin 105" missiles. Al-Qassam also targeted an Israeli infantry force and eliminated the rest of them from a zero distance in the Al-Faluja area in the northern Gaza Strip. The brigades added that their fighters targeted five invading vehicles with "Al-Yassin 105" shells in Al-Faluja, and also blew up a tank surrounded by soldiers, killing and wounding a number of them. The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said that they bombed the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Amitai base with concentrated missile barrages. The Al-Quds Brigades also said that they blew up an Israeli military vehicle with a "Piercer" device, and targeted two other vehicles with Tandem shells east of Gaza City. The Al-Quds Brigades attacked "Israeli enemy gatherings in the Abu Holi area with mortar shells, and the Kissufim military site with a missile salvo," according to their statement.
