PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: The Ministry of Health in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip announced on Saturday that an Israeli airstrike on a tent housing displaced civilians near a hospital south of Rafah left 11 dead and dozens wounded.
Israel’s military said it carried out a “precision strike” near a hospital targeting Islamic Jihad militants.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on the X social network that the reported strike was “cruel and unspeakable”.
In a statement, the spokesman of the ministry, Ashraf Al-Qadra, said: In the explosion near the Emirates maternity hospital, an emergency worker was also killed and children were injured.
“Eleven citizens were martyred and about 50 wounded, including children, as Israeli forces targeted tents of displaced people near the Emirati hospital,” said Qudra further.
Footage posted on social media showed bloodied bodies in the streets as crowds gathered, with men carrying away the wounded for treatment.
“Destruction is everywhere and there are many martyrs,” according to a Rafah resident.
The Israeli army confirmed it hit near the area of the hospital.
“The precision strike was conducted against Islamic Jihad terrorists and no damage was caused to the hospital in the area,” a statement issued by the army said.
Since the beginning of its attacks on the Palestinian territories, the Israeli army has carried out numerous operations in and around hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas militants of using the hospital for military purposes, a charge denied by Palestinian groups.
An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah, raising concerns that a planned Israeli ground attack on the city could result in widespread casualties.
Mediators are racing to reach a new ceasefire agreement before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10 or 11, depending on the lunar calendar.
The Gaza war began on October 7 with an unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel, killing an estimated 1,160 people, most of them civilians.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Israel’s retaliatory military operation against Hamas has left at least 30,320 dead, most of them women and children.
