Gaza medical worker deaths exceed 1,000

More than 1,000 medical workers in Gaza have been killed in Israeli strikes since October last year, local authorities have said, as Tel Aviv is accused of waging a "campaign of extermination" in north Gaza.

Experts said now that arrest warrants have been issued against Israeli and Hamas officials, the international community "should do more to stop the killing of civilians" and damage to critical infrastructure.

Hussam Abu Safia, director at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, who was injured in an Israeli attack on Saturday, renewed an appeal for global intervention in a letter published in English on Telegram, Al Jazeera reported.

"After the failure of the occupying army to evacuate the north, they have now begun to directly target our healthcare system … For the past seven consecutive days, we have been bombed directly," Al Jazeera quoted Safia as saying.

The attacks included the hospital's reception, emergency departments, electricity generators, oxygen station and water network.

Safia also accused Israeli forces of using a new type of weapon. "Specifically a quadcopter that drops bombs containing tiny fragments that are nearly invisible to the naked eye. These projectiles penetrate the bodies of our workers, causing severe bleeding and damage to internal organs," he was quoted as saying, adding that Israeli forces were waging a "campaign of extermination" in northern Gaza.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted a new evacuation order for some blocks in the Shejaiya neighborhood in the Gaza Strip on X on Saturday, alleging that "terrorist organizations" were once again firing rockets toward Israel in these areas.

Israel's operation in Gaza and Lebanon has caused widespread damage to medical facilities, aid distribution channels and civilian infrastructure, killing and injuring essential workers in the fields of healthcare and journalism.

Apart from the 1,000 doctors and nurses killed, over 300 other medical personnel had been arrested, tortured and executed in prisons, according to a WAFA News Agency report. The ongoing conflict has so far killed more than 44,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis and foreigners.

Hospitals damaged

Ahmad Al-Farra, head of the pediatric department at Nasser Medical Complex and director of Al-Tahrir Hospital for Children and Maternity, told China Daily that nearly 35 hospitals and medical centers had been damaged by Israeli forces.

"They evacuate the hospital (of staff and medical supply), they try to destroy everything, even the generator, even the water supply, even the oxygen supply for these hospitals," said Al-Farra.

He also appealed for support for the health sector and said they would work on launching support on global platforms, which would include health organizations and health activists.

"(This is) to protect it from the Israeli forces, to be protected from the damage that we expect to continue," said Al-Farra.

Hadi Rahmat Purnama, an assistant professor of international law and chair of the Centre for International Law Studies at the Faculty of Law at Universitas Indonesia, in Jakarta, told China Daily that the continuous targeting of medical personnel was "outrageous" as they "should be protected during armed conflict", citing the Geneva Conventions as the legal basis for protecting medical personnel.

He said Israel "has made indiscriminate attacks against Palestinians, which amount to war crimes", and that the majority of the international community has condemned these Israeli attacks, which are "not proportional".

"The US and European states have not done enough to prevent Israel from holding their attack against the Palestinians. The casualties are beyond necessary to weaken Hamas," said Purnama.

In another development, Lebanon's Hezbollah movement fired heavy rocket barrages at Israel on Sunday, and the Israeli military said houses had been destroyed or set alight near Tel Aviv after a powerful Israeli airstrike killed at least 29 people in Beirut the day before.

On Monday, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio that a cease-fire deal to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could be reached "within days".

Among the issues that remain is an Israeli demand to reserve the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations under the emerging deal. The deal seeks to push Hezbollah and Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon.

Agencies contributed to this story.