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- Medical charity Doctors without Borders said it had been left with no choice but to leave the area as Israeli forces encircle its clinics
GENEVA: Medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) said Friday it had been forced to suspend its work in Gaza City because of the ongoing Israeli offensive there.
The statement came after the Israeli military pressed its offensive against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza City, from which hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee.
“We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities as our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces,” said Jacob Granger, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza.
“This is the last thing we wanted, as the needs in Gaza City are enormous, with the most vulnerable people — infants in neo-natal care, those with severe injuries and life-threatening illnesses — unable to move and in grave danger.”
The civil defense agency — a rescue force operating under Hamas authority — reported at least 22 people killed since dawn across the Gaza Strip, including 11 in Gaza City.
Israel’s military said in a statement Friday that the air force had over the past day “struck over 140 targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including terrorists, tunnel shafts (and) military infrastructure.”
AFP footage from the Al-Shati refugee camp near Gaza City showed heavy damage to buildings after an air strike.