An Israeli air strike has killed 28 people and injured dozens at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, a spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defence agency has said.
Israeli warplanes dropped six bombs simultaneously on the Gaza hospital, hitting both its inner courtyard and surrounding area, according to local sources.
The Israeli military said it had conducted a “precise strike” on “Hamas terrorists in a command and control centre” which it claimed was beneath the hospital.
A freelance journalist working for the BBC in Gaza was among those injured in the air strike, and is now in a stable condition after receiving medical attention.
The strike at European Hospital resulted in several deep craters inside the hospital compound, which buried several vehicles including part of a large bus.
Eyewitnesses said Israeli drones maintained a tight aerial siege over the building, preventing rescue teams from reaching the site.
A quadcopter drone reportedly wounded two civil defence officers as they attempted to approach the European Hospital.
Dr Tom Potokar, a plastic surgeon working with the Ideals international aid charity, was in the hospital when it was hit.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newshour programme, he described “six enormous explosions one after the other” that directly hit the hospital with “no warning whatsoever”.
“There was complete panic,” he added.
The dead and wounded have been transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, local sources said, where medical teams are reportedly struggling to deal with the casualties.
The emergency department of Nasser Hospital was hit by another strike earlier on Tuesday, according to medical sources and eyewitnesses.
They said a well-known Palestinian photojournalist was among two people killed.
Hassan Aslih, who was being treated for injuries from a previous Israeli strike, was targeted in what witnesses described as a drone attack on the hospital’s surgical wing.
A doctor there confirmed that Aslih had been at the hospital for nearly a month after surviving an air strike on the same facility in April.
The Israeli military had previously accused him of involvement in the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel. The strike in April killed Aslih’s colleague Helmi al-Faqawi and wounded several other journalists.
In a joint statement the IDF and the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) said Hamas “continues” to use hospitals in Gaza for its activities – a long-standing Israeli allegation which the group denies.
Israeli media reported the target of the strike was senior Hamas figure Mohammed Sinwar – the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.
