The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported that Israeli forces targeted a hospital in southern Gaza, resulting in several casualties. This attack comes just a day after another deadly Israeli strike in front of the same medical facility.
Yesterday, the health ministry in Gaza stated that nearly twenty people were killed when Israeli forces targeted the entrance of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. The Israeli military has declared an expanded offensive in Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza.
According to Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, most of those killed on Wednesday were displaced individuals seeking refuge in and around the hospital. The World Health Organization reported that around 14,000 displaced Palestinians were taking shelter at Al-Amal. Unfortunately, most of Gaza’s thirty hospitals are no longer operational due to the ongoing strikes launched by Israel.
Al-Amal Hospital and its immediate vicinity have been struck five times in less than a week, as per Ms. Farsakh.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society shared videos on social media depicting the aftermath of Wednesday’s strike. In the footage, which could not be independently verified, bodies were seen lying in the streets, while medics rushed injured individuals, including children, into ambulances.
The Israeli military did not provide information regarding the locations of its strikes in Khan Younis on Wednesday. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesman, stated that an additional brigade had been deployed to the city, which he described as a “main Hamas terror center.”
The Gazan Health Ministry reported that dozens of people were killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, including in Khan Younis, overnight and on Thursday morning.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society described the shelling around Al-Amal Hospital as “relentless” in recent days. The organization shared a video on Tuesday showing its medics searching for bodies and injured individuals in the rubble of a bombed-out house. Less than an hour later, shelling hit the upper floors of the society’s nearby headquarters, causing injuries to several displaced individuals taking shelter there.
The World Health Organization, after visiting Al-Amal Hospital on Tuesday, reported dire conditions for both patients and civilians seeking shelter there. The hospital was overcrowded, with limited functioning facilities.
The W.H.O. staff also witnessed tens of thousands of people fleeing heavy strikes in Khan Younis and central Gaza on Tuesday, with people resorting to various means of transportation and constructing makeshift shelters along the roads.
As the Israeli military advances into central Gaza, almost two million people have been squeezed into the southern part of the enclave, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian crisis.
Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the W.H.O. representative for the West Bank and Gaza, expressed extreme concern about the added strain the latest wave of displacement will place on overwhelmed health facilities. He emphasized the increased risk of infectious diseases and the difficulty in delivering humanitarian aid.