Gaza correspondent
Getty PhotosAn Israeli air strike has destroyed a part of the final functioning hospital in Gaza Metropolis, the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry has stated.
Witnesses stated the strike destroyed the intensive care and surgical procedure departments of Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.
Video posted on-line appeared to point out enormous flames and smoke rising from the hospital after missiles hit a two-storey constructing. Individuals, together with some sufferers nonetheless in hospital beds, had been filmed dashing away from the positioning.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) stated the hospital contained a “command and management middle utilized by Hamas”. No casualties had been reported, in response to Gaza’s civil emergency service.
The well being ministry stated the constructing was “fully destroyed”, resulting in the “pressured displacement of sufferers and hospital workers”.
The IDF stated it had “taken steps to mitigate hurt to civilians or the hospital compound, together with issuing superior warnings within the space of the fear infrastructure, the usage of exact munitions, and aerial surveillance”.
A neighborhood journalist, who was working on the hospital, stated the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) had phoned a physician who was working within the emergency division and requested them to evacuate the hospital instantly.
“All sufferers and displaced folks should exit to a secure distance,” the officer reportedly stated.
“You could have solely 20 minutes to depart.”
Footage on social media confirmed workers and sufferers leaving the constructing whereas it was nonetheless darkish outdoors.
Dozens of Palestinians, together with girls and kids, had been additionally seen fleeing from a courtyard contained in the hospital the place they’d been looking for shelter.
Al-Ahli – a small medical facility earlier than the battle – is now the one hospital nonetheless functioning in Gaza Metropolis following the destruction of Al-Shifa medical complex and hospitals within the northern a part of the Strip.
In its assertion, the Hamas-run authorities media workplace condemned the assault.
Israel “is committing a horrific crime by concentrating on Al-Ahli Hospital, which homes a whole bunch of sufferers and medical workers”, it stated.
In October 2023, an assault on the identical hospital killed hundreds of people.
Palestinian officers blamed an Israeli strike for the blast. Israel stated the blast was attributable to a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, which denied accountability.
The Israeli navy launched a marketing campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, through which about 1,200 Israelis had been killed and 251 others had been taken hostage.
Greater than 50,933 folks have been killed in Gaza since then, in response to the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
Of these, 1,563 have been killed since 18 March, when Israel restarted its offensive within the Gaza Strip, the ministry stated.
