Strike on hospital torches medical supplies, officials say

1/11/2024 6:05

        At least 39 Palestinians were
        killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on
        Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital,
        torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the
        enclave's health officials said.
        
        Israel's military has accused the Palestinian militant group
        Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military
        purposes and said "dozens of terrorists" have been hiding there.
        Health officials and Hamas deny the charge.
        
        Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on two houses in the
        Nuseirat camp in central Gaza strip killed at least nine
        Palestinians, medics told Reuters.
        
        Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had
        dismantled Hamas' command structure, is currently the main focus
        of the military's assault in the enclave. Earlier this month it
        sent tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya to flush
        out militants it said had regrouped in the area.
        
        Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan - which is in
        Beit Lahiya - told Reuters some staff had suffered minor burns
        after the Israeli strike hit the third floor of the hospital.
        
        There were no reports of any casualties at the hospital,
        which Israeli forces stormed and briefly occupied last week.
        Israel said it had captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants
        in that raid. Israeli tanks are still stationed nearby.
        
        The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip called for
        all international bodies "to protect hospitals and medical staff
        from the brutality of the (Israeli) occupation".
        
        The Israeli military has said its forces are operating in
        the hospital area based on intelligence about the presence of
        terrorists and terror infrastructure in the vicinity.
        
        "During the operation, it was found that dozens of
        terrorists were hiding in the hospital, with some even posing as
        hospital staff," said the military in a statement following
        Thursday's strike.
        
        Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on
        Thursday that one of its doctors at the hospital, Mohammed
        Obeid, had been detained last Saturday by Israeli forces. It
        called for the protection of him and all medical staff who "are
        facing horrific violence as they try to provide care".
        
        The Gaza war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel
        on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251
        hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
        
        Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than
        43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble,
        Palestinian authorities say.