Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing two people, wounding others and causing a large fire.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, Gaza’s health ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
At least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza strip, three hospitals announced on Monday.
The Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City received 11 bodies from strikes overnight into Monday, including three women and four children. One of the strikes killed two children, their parents, their grandmother and their uncle.
The Nasser Hospital received seven bodies from strikes overnight and four from strikes the previous day. The European Hospital received three bodies from a strike near Khan Younis.
Those killed in Sunday night’s strike on Nasser Hospital included a 16-year-old boy who underwent surgery two days ago, according to the Health Ministry. Also killed was Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, who was being treated at the hospital, Hamas said in a statement.
Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz saying Barhoum was the target. It said extensive intelligence was followed, using precise munitions to minimise harm.
Nevertheless, medical staff said multiple people were wounded and the hospital’s surgical war for male patients destroyed.
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.
One dead in northern Israel shooting
Separately, Israeli media also reported that one person was killed and another wounded in a suspected terror attack near the northern Israeli city of Yokne’am.
Israeli police said the suspect drove a car into a bus stop, attempting to run people over before exiting his vehicle and opening fire on passing vehicles. A border police officer then shot the suspect at the scene.
A 70-year-old man who was left in critical condition died from his gunshot wounds, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service. Another 20-year-old man was brought to hospital with stab wounds and remains in critical condition, it added.
Rafah encircled
More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday.
The Israeli military claimed to have “eliminated” dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Hours before Sunday’s strike on Nasser Hospital, a separate strike on the Muwasi humanitarian zone killed Hamas leader Salah Bardawil and his wife.
Israel’s military has also advanced deeper into Gaza since it resumed the war. Thousands of people are trapped in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after Israeli forces encircled part of it on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.
Israel ordered the evacuation of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood, telling people to leave by a single route on foot to Muwasi, a sprawling cluster of tent camps along the coast.
Thousands fled, but residents said many were trapped by Israeli forces.
The Rafah municipality said Monday that thousands were still trapped, including first responders from the Civil Defence and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Ceasefire in tatters
At least 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its assault on Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials
Israel’s unrest over Gaza and political issues grew on Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.
“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu’s office. Police said three were arrested.
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ 7 October, 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.
In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month.
The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never took place.
