Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital tent camp kills 2
AN ISRAELI airstrike hit a tent camp within Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Sunday, killing two Palestinians and injuring 15 others.
The strike targeted one of several tents in the hospital’s courtyard, where thousands have sought shelter after fleeing their homes in the war-torn region.
Journalists working from nearby tents witnessed the strike and its aftermath, with no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israeli troops have been conducting raids in Gaza’s hospitals, including Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, accusing Hamas and other groups of operating in and around medical facilities.
Palestinian families who fled from the area, including many who had already been displaced earlier in the war, say they were ordered to march south by Israeli soldiers after days of heavy fighting.
Only a third of Gaza’s hospitals are even partially functioning, even as Israeli strikes kill and wound scores of people every day.
Doctors say they are often forced to treat patients on hospital floors because all the beds are taken and to operate without anesthetics and other crucial medical supplies.
An international team of doctors who had recently visited Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where Sunday’s strike occurred, said they were horrified by the war’s gruesome impact on Palestinian children.
The United Nations and partners have warned that famine could occur in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza as early as this month.
Humanitarian officials say deliveries by sea and air are not enough and that Israel must allow far more aid by road.
The top U.N. court has ordered Israel to open more land crossings and take other measures to address the crisis.