At least two Palestinians were killed and 15 – wounded, in an Israeli airstrike in the central part of the Gaza Strip, which hit a tent camp in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital; in the city of Deir al-Balakh, reported the Associated Press, quoted by BTA.
Journalists who witnessed the attack, including an AP reporter, confirmed the information about the strike and its consequences.
The Israeli army, for its part, said that today it carried out an airstrike on a "command center" of the Palestinian group "Islamic Jihad" in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital. "The command center and the terrorists were subjected to a precision strike in order to minimize harm to uninvolved civilians in the area of the hospital," an army statement quoted by Reuters said. "Al-Aqsa Hospital Building" she was not injured and her functioning was not affected", the text also reads.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge in medical facilities, hoping that they are relatively safe places in the event of airstrikes. However, Israel accuses "Hamas" and other fighters that operate in the territory and in the area of hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza and attacked a number of them.
The Assault of "Ash Shifa" – the largest hospital in the Palestinian enclave, lasted two weeks, AP recalls. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claim that they killed dozens of fighters there, including high-ranking representatives of "Hamas".
Only a third of Gaza's hospitals are even partially functional, even though Israeli strikes kill and injure dozens of people every day, the AP also writes. Doctors say they are often forced to treat patients lying on the floor because all the beds are occupied. In addition, they have to perform operations without anesthesia and other critically important medications and consumables.
An international team of doctors who recently visited Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where Sunday's strike was targeted, said they were shocked by the horrific effects of war on Palestinian children.
Earlier this month, the UN and partner organizations warned that a devastating famine could soon strike northern Gaza, which remains largely isolated. Aid officials say that aid deliveries by water and air are not enough and Israel should allow more shipments by land. The UN International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to open land crossings and take further measures to deal with the crisis.
The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said today that since the start of the war on October 7, the Israeli army has killed at least 32,782 Palestinians. This number also includes 77 killed, whose bodies were transferred to hospitals during the last 24 hours. The ministry does not keep separate statistics on civilians and fighters killed, but says about two-thirds of the victims are women and children.
Israel claims a third of those killed were fighters, although it provides no evidence to support its claims, and blames "Hamas" for the civilian victims, because the group operates in residential areas, the AP points out.