Gaza Ministry says at least 46 Palestinians killed in Israeli hospital attacks

At least 46 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military attacks on Thursday in the Gaza Strip, mostly in the north, where one attack hit a hospital, burning medical supplies and disrupting operations, enclave health officials said.

The Israeli military accused the Palestinian group Hamas of using the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said it was hiding “dozens of terrorists.” Health officials and Hamas deny the accusations.

Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on two houses in the Nuserat camp in central Gaza killed at least 16 Palestinians, doctors at the camp’s Al-Awda hospital told Reuters. They added that the dead included a paramedic and two local journalists.

Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had disbanded Hamas’ command structure, is now the main target of a military attack on the enclave. Earlier this month, it sent tanks to Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya to flush out militants it said had regrouped.

Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan, which is located in Beit Lahiya, told Reuters that some workers suffered minor burns after the Israeli strike hit the hospital’s third floor.

There were no reports of any casualties at the hospital, which was attacked and briefly occupied by Israeli forces last week. Israel said it captured about 100 suspected Hamas fighters during that raid. Israeli tanks are still stationed nearby.

The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip called on all international bodies “to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the (Israeli) occupation.”

The Israeli military said its forces were operating inside the hospital based on intelligence information about the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure nearby.

“During the operation, it was discovered that several dozen terrorists were hiding in the hospital, and some even posed as hospital staff,” the army said in a statement after Thursday’s strike.

The charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Thursday that one of the doctors working at the hospital, Mohammed Obeid, was detained last Saturday by Israeli forces. He called for protection for him and all medical staff who “face terrible violence trying to provide care.”

According to Israeli data, the Gaza war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Palestinian authorities say Israel’s subsequent attack on Gaza killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced much of the enclave to rubble.