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On the 164th day of the war on Gaza, and the eighth day of the holy month of Ramadan, the Israeli occupation army stormed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in northern Gaza, resulting in martyrs, injuries, and the arrest of dozens.

The occupation army also arrested Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and the press crew working with him while covering the Israeli attack on the Shifa complex in Gaza City and assaulted them, before releasing him 12 hours later.

The occupation forces assassinated Brigadier General Fayeq Al-Mabhouh, the head of police operations in the Gaza Strip and the coordinator of bringing aid into the northern Strip.

With increasing international pressure and criticism of Israel, the United Nations warned that the lives of more than a million residents of the Gaza Strip are in danger.

The World Food Program also warned of the specter of famine.

Breaking into healing

The occupation forces bombed schools and residential neighborhoods in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, west of Gaza City, after storming the complex on Monday morning, while the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said that it was engaged in fierce clashes with the forces penetrating near the complex.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that communications were completely cut off with the Shifa complex after the occupation forces stormed it.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the death and wounding of a number of Palestinians as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Al-Shifa Complex.

Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif reported that the Israeli occupation forces arrested displaced men and youth after storming a number of schools in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Complex, and asked the women to go to Deir Al-Balah via Al-Rashid Street. The occupation forces also besieged two other schools in the vicinity of the complex.

For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced that it was engaged in fierce clashes with the occupation forces penetrating near the Shifa complex, and said that it had targeted a number of Israeli vehicles, causing deaths and injuries.

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Occupation losses

The Israeli army acknowledged the killing of a sergeant in its ranks during the military operation in the Shifa Complex area, and announced that 3 other soldiers were injured during the battles in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

Today, the Israeli army issued an update on the number of soldiers and officers wounded since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, announcing that 3,082 soldiers had been wounded, including 1,482 since the start of the Israeli ground attack on Gaza.

Currently, 296 Israeli soldiers are still being treated for their injuries in the Gaza battles, 26 of whom have serious injuries, and 204 have moderate injuries.

In total, 485 soldiers have been seriously injured since October 7, according to the Israeli army.

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“The occupation demolished the journalists’ tent and destroyed their cars during the storming of the Shifa complex.” The occupation releases colleague Ismail al-Ghoul and two journalists after being detained for 12 hours #Gaza_War #Video pic.twitter.com/IgajyQzTLS

- Al Jazeera Palestine (@AJA_Palestine) March 18, 2024

Al Jazeera correspondent released

The Israeli occupation forces released Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, colleague Ismail Al-Ghoul, and a number of journalists after detaining them for 12 hours in Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

Immediately after the occupation forces released him, colleague Ismail al-Ghoul told Al Jazeera that he and other journalists were forced to surrender themselves to the occupation forces, who forced them to completely remove their clothes, after they bulldozed the journalists’ tent and destroyed their cars during the storming of the Shifa complex.

Al-Ghoul continued, “The occupation forces handcuffed us, blindfolded us, and interrogated all the journalists present in the place,” noting that these forces kept them there for 12 hours.

Al-Ghoul added that the occupation forces confiscated the journalists' phones, computers, and photography equipment.

Earlier today, Monday, Al Jazeera Media Network called for the immediate release of its correspondent in Gaza, Ismail al-Ghoul, and the journalists detained with him, and held the Israeli occupation army responsible for their safety.

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The occupation army announced the assassination of Palestinian officer Fayeq Al-Mabhouh during the Al-Shifa Complex operation (communication sites)

Assassination of Al-Mabhouh

On the other hand, the Israeli occupation army announced that it killed Palestinian officer Fayeq al-Mabhouh during the Al-Shifa Complex operation, and described him as “the head of operations for Hamas’ internal security.”

Sources told Al Jazeera that Brigadier General Al-Mabhouh is in charge of police operations in the Strip, and was supervising the entry of aid into the northern Strip.

The Israeli army said this evening that it had killed 20 of what it described as saboteurs in clashes in the Al-Shifa complex, and that it was continuing its operation in the complex.

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Famine outbreak

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced alarming numbers about the malnutrition suffered by residents of the Gaza Strip, especially children, while a United Nations-backed report warned of a catastrophic nutritional situation for half the population and of imminent famine.

UNRWA said that 28% of children under the age of two in Khan Yunis and the central Gaza Strip suffer from acute malnutrition, and explained that more than 10% of children under the age of two suffer from severe wasting in those areas.

On a related level, a food security assessment supported by the United Nations said on Monday that half of Gaza’s population is suffering from catastrophic hunger, at a time when famine is expected to strike the northern Gaza Strip at any time between now and next May, in the absence of any urgent intervention. To prevent this.

Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said that having 50% of the entire population at catastrophic levels close to famine is unprecedented.

The report said that famine is imminent in the northern regions, and is expected to occur at any time between mid-March and May 2024.

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Attacks and arrests in the West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli occupation forces attacked a funeral and prevented the burial of a martyr in a cemetery in the city of Hebron. The Israeli army also demolished 3 Palestinian homes in the east of the occupied West Bank, under the pretext of building without a permit.

The occupation forces fired poison gas bombs towards mourners in the Islamic cemetery near Karantina in central Hebron.

It is noteworthy that a shooting attack took place near the Islamic cemetery in the area the day before yesterday, and led to the martyrdom of the perpetrator, without any casualties among the occupation soldiers.

The occupation army stormed the village of Al-Issawiya in Jerusalem and arrested a number of Palestinians. Al Jazeera’s correspondent also reported that the Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Al-Khader and the Dheisha camp in Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

In the same context, Anadolu Agency quoted eyewitnesses that an Israeli force raided the Al-Mantar area, east of Jericho Governorate, accompanied by military bulldozers, and demolished a house under construction, two mobile homes, and fences.

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Urgent |

Al Jazeera correspondent: An Israeli raid on the country of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon pic.twitter.com/WYyiKpe0lL

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) March 18, 2024

Hezbollah attacks

The occupation army announced - today, Monday - that its fighters bombed a military building and a reconnaissance site belonging to Hezbollah in Ramieh, southern Lebanon, last night, while sirens sounded a short while ago in areas of northern Israel.

The Lebanese News Agency (WAL) reported - this morning - that Israeli warplanes launched a raid targeting a house on the outskirts of the town of Ramieh in Nabatieh Governorate, south of the country.

WAL explained that the raid caused material damage to homes and farms adjacent to the targeted house, and coincided with artillery shelling targeting the outskirts of the towns of Ramiya and Aita al-Shaab in the south of the country.

The agency said that Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew, throughout the night and until Monday morning, over villages in the Tire and Bint Jbeil districts in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced that it launched 8 attacks on Israeli positions off the border, while Israeli media confirmed that a battalion commander survived a Lebanese missile attack.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that a senior officer survived after Hezbollah fired a guided missile at midnight against a military vehicle on the northern border. It explained that the battalion commander was not injured, but the targeted military vehicle was severely damaged.

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Source: Al Jazeera + agencies