Israel continues airstrikes, ground war in Gaza as hostage negotiations stall

John Yang:

Good evening. I'm John Yang. With conditions at Gaza hospitals getting worse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today said that any ceasefire agreement must include the release of all the Israelis Hamas is holding in Gaza. Netanyahu also said that pressure from Israeli ground operations pushed Hamas to negotiate about the hostages.

But there are reports tonight that Hamas has paused the talks because of the ongoing chaos around Gaza's hospitals, which is what special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen begins her report with tonight. And we should warn you that some of the images may be disturbing.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Hospitals across Gaza are on the brink of collapse. Doctors have been working by flashlight to treat patients, but staff at Al-Quds Hospital today were unable to continue under the conditions and were forced to stop accepting new patients.

Woman (through translator):

Sorrow, pain, anger, discontent and disappointment, these are our feelings today.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Al-Shifa Hospital, the biggest in Gaza, was also forced to close to any more patients today. Premature babies were lined up in ordinary beds because there was no more electricity to keep them in their life saving incubators.

Dr. Mohammed Obeid, Surgeon, Doctors Without Borders:

We merely sure that we are alone now. No one hear us, but we want someone to give us the guarantee that we can evacuate the patient.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Today on NBC's Meet the Press, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed last night Israel offered to provide the hospital enough fuel to operate, but militants refused it.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:

We have obviously no battle with patients or with civilians at all. And I think every civilian death, every dead baby is a tragedy. But that tragedy should be placed squarely at the responsibility of Hamas, that is keeping its military installations inside hospitals. So we obviously don't want to give them immunity, but at the same time, we're sensitive to this issue.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Hamas denies refusing any amount of fuel intended for medical use at Gaza's Al-Shafar Hospital. In Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, the Israeli bombardment continued, a gaping crater where houses and buildings were obliterated, killing at least 13 Palestinians. Residents combed through the rubble, searching for survivors.

In an interview on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had this to say on ongoing bombings.

Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General:

You cannot use the horrific things that Hamas did as a reason for a collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Leila Molana-Allen:

And as more people try to leave Gaza, the wrath, a border crossing to Egypt, reopened after a two-day closure. Many of those allowed to cross today were Russian. And as the war threatens to trigger a wider conflict in the region.

On Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the sky was thick with smoke from rocket fire between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces. For PBS News Weekend, I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Tel Aviv.