Israel bombs two Gaza hospitals, killing at least 18 Palestinians
- Al Jazeera
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
European and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis attacked by Israel.
Palestinians inspect the damage after the European Hospital in Gaza’s southern Khan Younis was targeted by a series of deadly air strikes [Hatem Khaled/Reuters] (Reuters)
Nine Israeli missiles have slammed into and around the courtyard of the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing at least 16 people and wounding 70, the enclave’s Ministry of Health says, in the second deadly bombardment of a medical facility in the city since dawn.
The Civil Defence agency in Gaza said Tuesday its medical teams are recovering more people who were killed or wounded.
The rescue organisation said in a short statement that the bodies of some of the victims still cannot be recovered because they are “scattered around the hospital area” from the intensity of the Israeli bombardment.
After reports indicated a second round of Israeli missiles hit the area to deter rescue operations, the agency confirmed the Israeli army “deliberately targeted anyone who tried to reach” the wounded.
The Israeli military said it struck a “Hamas command centre” beneath the hospital, without providing any evidence.
Al Jazeera Arabic reported early Wednesday that four Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli attack on a house in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. The air strikes followed a warning by Israel’s military for Palestinians in the flee the area to flee.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there’s “no way” Israel will halt its war on Gaza even if a deal is reached to release more captives held in the besieged and bombarded territory. He has threatened an all-out military assault in the coming days.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday denounced Netanyahu’s policy in Gaza. “What he’s doing is shameful”, he said during an interview on TF1 television, adding that European nations should consider sanctions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel’s army admitted to carrying out “a targeted attack” on the Nasser Medical Complex, also in Khan Younis, killing two people, including Palestinian journalist Hassan Eslaih.
Gaza’s Government Media Office confirmed the killing of Eslaih, who was receiving treatment at the hospital’s burn unit for severe injuries sustained during an April 7 Israeli strike on a media tent located next to the hospital.
AFP news agency footage taken from Nasser Medical Complex after Tuesday’s strike showed smoke rising from the facility as rescuers searched through the rubble by the light of torches.
A hospital worker who gave his name as Abu Ghali said the Israeli bombardment “does not differentiate between civilians and military targets”.
“This is a civilian hospital that receives injured people around the clock,” he told AFP.
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s attack on Nasser Hospital marked the second time in seven weeks the same building was targeted.
“After the first attack seven weeks ago, we had to move our burn unit to a nearby building, where we now treat severe burns, trauma injuries and run two surgical theatres,” MSF said. “Following today’s attack, outpatient consultations are suspended, and the number of our colleagues in the facility is reduced.”
Eslaih was the director of the Alam24 News Agency and a freelancer who contributed to international news organisations, including photos of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
Israel has claimed Eslaih was a Hamas fighter who participated in the attacks, an allegation he vehemently denied.
Dozens of journalists killed
At least 178 journalists and media workers have been killed in Palestine, Israel and Lebanon since the war began, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Gaza’s Government Media Office put the death toll at 215.
Israel’s military said in a post on Telegram that the strike targeted a Hamas “command and control complex” at Nasser, the largest hospital in southern Gaza, without providing evidence.
“The compound was used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and troops,” the post said, in what appeared to be a reference to Eslaih and Hamas.
Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned “the repeated targeting of hospitals and the pursuit and killing of wounded patients inside treatment rooms”, saying it “confirms Israel’s deliberate intent to inflict greater damage to the healthcare system”.
Hospitals in Gaza have been a frequent target of Israeli attacks since the war began in October 2023 although attacking health facilities, medical personnel and patients is illegal under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
According to officials in Gaza, Israel has bombed and burned at least 36 hospitals across the enclave since the war erupted.
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