GAZA CITY, Palestine

A Palestinian health official said Friday the health system in the northern Gaza Strip is under an Israeli destruction, siege and genocide for more than 14 days.

The Israeli army has continued its offensive in northern Gaza for the 14th consecutive day, focusing on the Jabalia area and its refugee camp.

Marwan Al-Hams, director of field hospitals in Gaza, said at a news conference that patients and those injured in northern Gaza "can't find medicine and die without medical intervention."

He said hospitals in the north are unable to provide medical services due to the large numbers of injured people, as facilities have no spaces, and noted that doctors are working on "the system of urgency and priority" in treating those who are injured.

Al-Hams cautioned that the running out of medicines and medical disposables in all hospitals in the north threaten the lives of those who are under an Israeli siege, and urged intervention to bring in fuel to the hospitals.

"Israel is entirely destroying northern Gaza, and killing the people in mass massacres," he said.

Northern Gaza, particularly the Jabalia area, is under a suffocating siege and constant bombardment, with homes being demolished over their inhabitants.

It is the third ground operation the Israeli army has carried out in the Jabalia camp since the start of the onslaught on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

At least 42,500 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 99,500 injured, according to local health authorities.

The onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar