An Israeli airstrike on tents for displaced Palestinians inside a hospital complex in Gaza killed at least four people and injured at least 70, many seriously, as the Israeli genocide in the besieged enclave continues. continues for a second year.
The attack on the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir el-Balah in the early hours of Monday hit tents where many displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
Videos showed rescuers rushing to save people as they struggled to contain a major fire. The number of deaths is expected to rise further.
“What happened was we woke up to smoke, flames, fire and burning bits falling on the tents from all directions. The explosions terrified us in our tents and outside where we live, behind Al-Aqsa Hospital,” Om Ahmad Radi, a survivor at the scene, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“The fire trucks couldn’t get here. There were so many burned and charred bodies everywhere. The amount of fires and explosions was enormous. We witnessed one of the most horrific and brutal nights.
Volunteer surgeon Mohammad Tahir said these were victims who had burns on 60 to 80 percent of their bodies – many of whom would not survive.
“Patients with a high percentage of burns – unfortunately, their fate is sealed. They won’t even make it to intensive care. They will die,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune from outside Al-Aqsa Hospital.
“It’s a horror show here. Honestly, I sometimes feel like this isn’t real life, that this can go on and this level of suffering is allowed to happen in this world.
The Gaza media office said it was the seventh time this year that Israel had struck the Al-Aqsa hospital compound and the third in the past two weeks, killing Palestinians forced to flee their homes.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said that “some 20 to 30 tents were completely destroyed and burned to the ground.”
“There were many people inside the tents as the fire spread who could not be saved,” he said. “We are facing a large number (of deaths) because these tents are close to each other, leaning against each other and set up in a small space inside the hospital courtyard.”
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee confirmed that the Israeli Air Force carried out the attack, claiming, without evidence, that the hospital complex had been used as a “command and control center.” » by the Palestinian group Hamas to carry out attacks against Israel.
Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked medical facilities in Gaza since the onslaught began more than a year ago, with the enclave’s health sector already overwhelmed and infrastructure destroyed.
Last week, a United Nations independent international commission of inquiry (CoI) released a report finding that Israel is pursuing “a concerted policy aimed at destroying Gaza’s health system.”
Meanwhile, at least 22 more Palestinians were confirmed dead and 80 others injured on Sunday when Israeli tanks shelled a school housing displaced people in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza.
The Israeli genocide destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million people, many of them multiple times.
In northern Gaza, Israeli air and ground forces have besieged Jabalia for days, saying Hamas fighters have regrouped there. Over the past year, Israeli troops have repeatedly returned to the Jabalia refugee camp, dating from the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.
The attack on Jabalia follows Israeli orders to completely evacuate northern Gaza, including Gaza City. There are an estimated 400,000 Palestinians remaining in the north. The UN says no food has entered northern Gaza since October 1.
The military confirmed that hospitals were also included in its evacuation orders, adding that it had not set a timetable and was working with local authorities to facilitate patient transfers.
But Fares Abu Hamza, an emergency service official at Gaza’s health ministry, told the Associated Press news agency that the bodies of a “large number of martyrs” have still not been recovered in the streets and under the rubble of the north.
“We can’t get to them,” he said, claiming the dogs were eating some of the leftovers.
Israel continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border Hamas attack on October 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Since then, more than 42,200 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and around 98,400 have been injured, according to local health authorities.