ANKARA – The Israeli army on Friday struck Gaza’s main hospital Al-Shifa, leaving numerous casualties among the many displaced Palestinians taking shelter at the hospital.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli warplanes struck the outpatient building within the Al-Shifa Hospital complex.
It added that dozens of Palestinians were killed and injured in the Israeli attack, most of them children and women.
The exact number of casualties was not yet confirmed as no statement by the health authorities was made.
Palestinian journalists who were inside the hospital published horrific scenes on social media showing the attack on the hospital along with several dead and injured people, most of them children and women.
Almost all hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip came under Israeli attacks and airstrikes in the last 24 hours, including Al-Shifa, which saw at least four rounds of Israeli airstrikes in the same period.
Attacks on civilian facilities such as hospitals are prohibited under the rules of war. Israel has claimed Hamas is taking shelter in or around Gaza hospitals, but rights groups have not able to confirm this allegation.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip – including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship – since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 10,812 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,412 children and 2,918 women. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.
The Israeli warplanes on Thursday carried out several overnight raids on Gaza hospitals, including Al-Shifa, the main hospital in the besieged enclave.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Al-Shifa Hospital came under heavy bombardment in the very vicinity of the hospital, killing at least six Palestinians and injuring others.
The Israeli army continues to strike Al-Shifa Hospital, alleging that Hamas military leadership is stationed in it, a claim vehemently denied by the Palestinian group.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out at the ground floor of Al-Rantisi Pediatric Hospital from the Israeli airstrikes, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry.
Wafa also said that Indonesian Hospital, north of Gaza, came under a series of heavy Israeli airstrikes in its vicinity, causing panic among the medical staff, patients and displaced people inside the hospital.
It added that Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, became the target of Israeli airstrikes, which left two medics wounded and two ambulances destroyed.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported heavy Israeli airstrikes near Al-Quds Hospital in the Gaza City, a medical facility home to nearly 14,000 Palestinians displaced.
According to the Gaza-based government media office, 18 hospitals out of 34 across Gaza were out of service due to either Israeli bombardment or the lack of fuel and medical supplies.
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7. -AA
