Israel-Hamas War, Day 35: Gaza Hospitals At Center Of Escalating Conflict; Israel Announces Humanitarian Pauses

Thirty-five days following the Hamas attacks in Israel, the Gaza Strip is witnessing an intensification of conflict with recent reports indicating increased hostilities near key medical facilities, coupled with escalating international reactions and political statements.

Here are the latest developments in the ongoing conflict:

• Hospitals at the center of conflict: Hamas officials and Palestinian media have reported fighting on the outskirts of Gaza's Shifa Hospital, identified by Israel as a Hamas command center, and the Rantisi Hospital. The Times of Israel, add that Shifa Hospital, allegedly situated above Hamas’s headquarters, is now encircled. Al Jazeera reported that Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, stated that Israel has bombed Al-Shifa Hospital buildings five times since Thursday night.

• Amid these developments, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have renewed evacuation calls, surrounding the two key hospitals in Gaza City. On Thursday, Israel has agreed to daily, four-hour operational pauses to facilitate civilian evacuations and increase humanitarian aid from Egypt, as confirmed by the White House.
  
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that there would be “no ceasefire” without the release of hostages held by Hamas.
  
• International responses and condemnations: The conflict has drawn sharp international responses. As reported by CNN, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the civilian death toll in Gaza during his visit in New Delhi, emphasizing the need for minimizing harm to Palestinian civilians. "Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks," Blinken said.
  
• Catherine Russell, the head of UNICEF, called for the unconditional release of all hostages, responding to a video depicting a child hostage in Gaza. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh, called for an end to the war and the “forced displacement” of Palestinians.
  
• The Biden administration faces stark warnings from American diplomats in Arab countries about the repercussions of its strong support for Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
  
• Abbas’s readiness to govern Gaza: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated readiness to govern the Gaza Strip post-conflict, underlining that this would only be feasible as part of a broader political solution, including the establishment of a Palestinian State along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, as CNN reported. In stark contrast to Abbas's vision, Israel has declared its intention to maintain security control over Gaza indefinitely after its military campaign against Hamas.

Friday’s Market Reactions

The Israeli shekel (ILS) weakened by 1.2% as of 08:35 a.m. in New York, positioning it for its second-worst session since the war’s onset.

The Tel Aviv 125, Israel’s primary stock index, experienced a decline of 0.6% on Friday. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the iShares MSCI Israel ETF EIS saw a substantial fall, closing 1.7% lower.

Stock futures indicated an uptrend ahead of the opening bell. Both S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 index futures were up by 0.3%.

Following a significant increase on Thursday, Treasury yields saw a slight relaxation. The 30-year yield dropped by 5 basis points to 4.72%. Concurrently, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT finished Thursday 2.3% lower.

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