‘Burned and charred bodies’ as Israel hits tents at central Gaza hospital
As Israel’s genocide in the besieged enclave drags on for a second year, an Israeli airstrike on a tents for Palestinian refugees inside a hospital complex in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least four people and the injuries of at least 70, many of whom are critical.
In the early hours of Monday, the attack at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah city, in central Gaza, hit tents where numerous displaced Palestinians had been sleeping.
Rescuers were filmed attempting to contain a significant fire while struggling to contain it. The death toll is anticipated to rise even higher.
“What happened was that we woke up to smoke, flames, fire and burning pieces falling on the tents from every direction. The explosions terrified us in our tents and outside where we live behind Al-Aqsa Hospital”, Om Ahmad Radi, a survivor at the scene, told Al Jazeera.
“The fire trucks couldn’t get here. There were numerous bodies that had been burned and charred all over. There was a lot of fire and explosions. One of the most gruesome and brutal nights was here.
Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes for the third time this year, according to Gaza’s media office, and the seventh time this year Israel has attacked Al-Aqsa Hospital.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said “some 20 to 30 tents were completely destroyed and completely burned down.
” There were many people inside the tents as the fire spread, who could not be saved, “he said”. We are looking at a large number]of deaths] as these tents are close to each other, back-to-back and set up in a small space inside the hospital courtyard. “
A spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, confirmed that Hamas’ organization used the hospital complex as a “command and control center” to launch attacks against Israel, supporting the statement.
Since the assault began more than a year ago, Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked Gaza’s medical facilities and infrastructure.
Last week, a United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) released a report which found Israel perpetrating” a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system”.
At least 22 more Palestinians have been confirmed dead and 80 others have been injured in Nuseirat, central Gaza, on Sunday when Israeli tanks shelled a school that sheltered the displaced.
About 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced by Israel’s genocide, many of whom have been repeatedly, and have destroyed significant portions of the area.
Israeli air and ground forces have been under a day’s siege in northern Gaza, claiming that Hamas fighters have regrouped there. Over the past year, Israeli troops have repeatedly returned to the refugee camp in Jabalia, which dates to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
Israeli orders to completely evacuate northern Gaza, including Gaza City, were followed by the attack on Jabalia. An estimated 400, 000 Palestinians remain in the north. Since October 1, according to the UN, no food has been entering northern Gaza.
The military confirmed that its evacuation orders also addressed hospitals, adding that it had not established a schedule and was working with local authorities to facilitate patient transfers.
However, an official with the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service, Fares Abu Hamza, reported to The Associated Press that “a significant number of martyrs’ bodies” are still uncollected from the streets and under the rubble in the north.
” We are unable to reach them, “he said, asserting that dogs were eating some remains.
Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israel has continued to brutally attack Gaza following a Hamas cross-border attack on October 7, last year.
