Israeli missiles strike Gaza hospital, patients evacuated

Two Israeli missiles hit a major Gaza hospital on Sunday, putting the emergency department out of action and damaging other structures, medics said, in a strike which Israel said was aimed at Hamas fighters exploiting the facility.

Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital evacuated patients after a phone call from someone who identified himself as Israeli security shortly before the attack.

No casualties were reported in the strike. The Israeli military said in a statement it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians before it struck the compound, which it said was being used by Hamas militants to plan attacks. Hamas rejected the accusation and called for an international investigation.

The hospital, an institution run by the Anglican Church in Jerusalem, was no longer operational, according to Gaza's health ministry.

“Hundreds of patients and injured people had to be evacuated in the middle of the night, and many are out in the streets without medical care, which puts their lives at risk,” said ministry spokesperson Khalil Al-Deqran.

Sunday's strikes came as Hamas leaders began a fresh round of talks in Cairo in a bid to salvage a stalled ceasefire agreement with Israel, as Egypt, Qatar, and the US attempted to bridge gaps between the sides.

Reuters footage showed significant destruction inside and outside the hospital compound's church, and patients who could not leave.

“The scene was scary. From last night I haven't slept a single minute out of fear. All night  glass was shattering over us inside,” said an injured man, Mohammed Abu Nasser.

The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem said the warning to evacuate the hospital came 20 minutes before the strike that destroyed the two-storey genetic laboratory and damaged the pharmacy and emergency department buildings and other surrounding structures.

“We call on all governments and people of goodwill to intervene to stop all kinds of attacks on medical and humanitarian institutions,” the church said.

The Palestinian foreign ministry and Hamas condemned the attack, saying Israel was destroying Gaza's healthcare system.

Israel said Hamas systematically exploits civilian structures, including hospitals, which the militant group denies. Israeli forces have carried out many raids in medical facilities in Gaza.

In October 2023, a deadly blast at a parking lot in the compound of Al-Ahli hospital was blamed by Hamas on an Israeli air strike. Israel said a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group had caused the blast.

The militant group denied it was responsible. An investigation by Human Rights Watch concluded the explosion was most likely caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch.

Separate strikes in the enclave on Sunday killed at least 30 Palestinians, including the head of a police station in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Hamas-run enclave, according to Hamas and health authorities. Six brothers were killed when an Israeli strike hit their car in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, medics said.

Later on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and destroyed a 1.2km underground tunnel used by militants in the northern Gaza Strip. It said it struck several militants identified as planting a bomb near the Israeli soldiers carrying out the operation to demolish the tunnel.

The armed wing of Hamas, meanwhile, said its fighters detonated bombs they had planted in a house in eastern Rafah, in the south of the enclave, after Israeli soldiers entered it.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 50,900 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities. Much of Gaza is in ruins and most of its population has been displaced.

Reuters