GAZA: Chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday said an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in Gaza killed four people and injured 17.
The UN official in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said a WHO team was on a mission at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza, when a tent camp situation in the complex of the medical facility was hit by an Israeli airstrike.
The strike at Al-Aqsa hospital was seen by a World Health Organization team sent there to evaluate needs and to collect incubators for the north of Gaza, said Tedros. Israel’s military has denied that the hospital was targeted in the strike.
Tedros provided no details of the victims, but said: “WHO staff are all accounted for.”
In a message posted on X, the Israeli army said one of its planes hit an operational Islamic Jihad command center and terrorists stationed in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah area of Gaza.
It added that after the precise strike, the building of Al-Aqsa hospital was not damaged and its operations were not affected.
Tedros renewed his call for patients, aid workers and health professionals to be protected during the war and demanded attacks on hospitals to stop.
Ongoing attacks on Gaza hospitals must be stopped: WHO
He said that the ongoing attacks on hospitals must come to an end and international humanitarian law must be respected.
Tedros asked all parties to the conflict to respect and comply with the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
According to the WHO, currently there are ten hospitals operational in Gaza at a minimum level, as compared to 36 before the beginning of the war.
Along with air strikes there has also been aggressive ground attacks in and around hospitals in Gaza, where many Gazans are taking shelter.
According to Gaza health ministry Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed at least 32,782 people, mostly women and children. The toll includes 77 deaths and 108 injuries recorded within the past 24 hours alone.
Gaza residents endure dire conditions, with widespread destruction and suffering permeating the enclave. The urgent need for humanitarian assistance is underscored by the World Court’s recent ruling, urging Israel to ensure basic food supplies to the besieged population.
