Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south
“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.
“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”
“Enough is enough. We are exhausted,” said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.
Israel’s military said it had fired on advancing “suspicious vehicles” and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.
In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. “My husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,” said witness Nidaa Hassuna.
Strikes kill Hamas leader
Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel’s military confirmed it.
Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.
Dr. Munir al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Ceasefire in tatters
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
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