With no ceasefire in sight Israeli airstrikes endanger Gaza medical system, prompt Hamas to join the fray

Intensified fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian Islamic Jihad puts pressure on Hamas to join the battle. At the same time, Gaza’s hospitals brace for crippling of medical services in the embattled enclave. Israeli shelling continues in several areas in Gaza for the second day in a row, as the Israeli air force bombed residential buildings in Ajlin in central Gaza. Tel Aviv’s military claimed it struck some 30 Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. Still, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told A24 that Israel was targeting innocent civilians. Barhoum indicated his organization was now moving toward a coordinated response alongside other factions, including Islamic Jihad, which has been considered a rival for the dominant force in Gaza. Meanwhile, Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of Gaza’s largest hospital, is warning that the continued blockade and failure to provide medical supplies, puts caretakers in a position where they are at real risk of being unable to treat the injured.