At least 46 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the besieged Gaza Strip. This incident happened on Thursday (October 31). Most of the victims are from the northern region. An Israeli attack on a hospital there set fire to medical supplies. Operation interrupted. British news agency Reuters reported this news about Gaza health officials.
The Israeli military has accused the Palestinian armed group Hamas of using Beit Lahia's Kamal Adwan Hospital for military purposes. They say there are 'dozens of terrorists' hiding there.
However, health officials and Hamas have denied such allegations.
At least 16 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Nusirat camp in central Gaza later on Thursday, medics at the camp's al-Awda hospital told Reuters. Among them are a paramedic and two local journalists.
The area where Israel claimed to have dismantled Hamas' command structure in northern Gaza in January is now the focus of the military's offensive. Earlier this month, they sent tanks to Jabalia, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya to eliminate fighters. They claimed that armed fighters had regrouped in those places.
Kamal Adwan's director of nursing Id Sabbah told Reuters from Beit Lahiya that some staff suffered minor burns after the Israeli attack on the hospital's third floor.
There were no reports of casualties at the hospital, which was briefly overrun by Israeli forces last week. Israel said it had detained about 100 suspected Hamas fighters in the operation. Israeli tanks are still stationed near the hospital.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza has called on all international organizations to 'protect hospitals and medical workers from the brutality of the Israeli occupation'.
The Israeli military said its forces were acting on intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the hospital area and terrorist infrastructure nearby.
Dozens of terrorists were found hiding in hospitals during the operation, the army said in a statement after Thursday's attack. Some of them even identified themselves as hospital workers.'
The Gaza War began on October 7, 2023, following an attack on Israel by armed fighters led by Hamas. According to Israeli figures, about 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attack. Meanwhile, armed fighters took 250 hostages to Gaza.
Palestinian authorities say more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's subsequent offensive in Gaza.
