Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 18 people on Tuesday.
The Gaza health ministry said nine missiles struck in and around the courtyard of the Gaza European Hospital in the south of the enclave, killing at least 16 people and wounding 70 others.
The fate of several others remained unclear as rescue operations were under way, a civil emergency official told Reuters.
The Israeli military said it had struck a “Hamas command centre” beneath the hospital. It accuses Hamas of exploiting hospitals and civilian properties for military purposes, which the group denies.
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An earlier air strike killed a well-known Palestinian journalist whom Israel accused of working with Hamas and was recovering in hospital from an earlier strike, the territory’s health ministry said.
Israel accused Hassan Aslih, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media platforms, of taking part in the October 7th, 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.
It said Mr Aslih had documented and uploaded footage of “looting, arson and murder” during the Hamas-led incursion into Israel.
Ahmed Siyyam, a Gaza civil emergency service member, told Reuters the attack hit the third floor of a Nasser Hospital building in the southern city of Khan Younis, where dozens of patients and injured were being treated.
Two patients, including Mr Aslih, were killed and several others were wounded, the health ministry said.
Israel’s military said in a statement that it struck “significant Hamas terrorists who were operating from within a command and control center” located at the hospital. It did not name them.
Reuters footage showed heavy damage to one of the hospital buildings, including to the medical equipment and beds inside.
“I came to the hospital not knowing whether to mourn the martyrs, treat the patients and injured, or deal with the staff who no longer feel safe,” said Atef Al-Hout, director of Nasser Hospital.
According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 160 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
Officials in Gaza, where Hamas took control in 2007, put the number at 215, and accuse Israel of deliberately targeting journalists. Israel denies targeting journalists and says it tries to avoid harm to civilians.
Mr Aslih led the Alam24 news outlet and worked as a freelance photojournalist. He had previously worked with several western news organisations. He was wounded last month in a deadly strike on a tent in the Nasser hospital compound.
Some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the October 7th, 2023 attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s response has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and destroyed much of the enclave.
A blockade on aid supplies since March 2nd has left the population at critical risk of famine, according to a UN-backed monitor.
A senior World Health Organisation official warned on Tuesday that hunger and malnutrition could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation”. - Reuters
