At least 29 killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza

2024-12-07 11:43:43, Kosova & Bota CNA

At least 29 people have been killed, including four medical staff, after Israeli airstrikes hit an area near one of the last operating hospitals in northern Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

The situation in and around the Kamal Advan hospital is "catastrophic", said the director of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safia. Among the victims were five children and five women, according to the hospital's list of victims, which was accessed by the Associated Press.

Kamal Advan Hospital in Beit Lahija is one of the few hospitals still operating in the northernmost province of Gaza, where Israeli forces are continuing their offensive that has almost completely cut off the area from access to humanitarian aid for two months.

The Israeli army has denied that its forces attacked inside the hospital and that it operates inside it. The army said that in recent weeks, "coordinated efforts have been made with international organizations to transfer patients, their companions and medical staff to other hospitals".

This hospital has been attacked several times in the past two months, when Israel launched a major military operation in northern Gaza against Hamas, the Palestinian group declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

In October, Israeli forces raided the hospital, saying militants were holed up inside, and arrested several people, including staff members. Hospital officials denied Israel's claims.

Israel's war against Hamas has devastated large areas of Gaza and displaced 90 percent of the enclave's 2.3 million population several times.

The war began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapping nearly 250 others.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Israel, without providing evidence, has said that it has killed more than 17,000 militants./ REL