Attack on hospital in Gaza – several dead
Julia Wide
Updated 17.31 | Published 14.20
A fire raged at al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza after an Israeli attack on Monday. In the area there was also a tent camp where displaced Palestinians sought shelter.
Four people have died and several have received serious burns.
According to Israel, the hospital was used by Hamas.
Early Monday morning, the IDF carried out new airstrikes against central Gaza. A hospital area in the city of Deir al-Balah was hit and a fire broke out as a result of the explosions.
Many displaced Palestinians had sought refuge at the hospital. Images from the scene show a large tent camp in flames, and witnesses and local doctors testify to charred bodies, reports the AP news agency.
At least 25 people have been taken to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. Many of the victims are women and children. So far, four people have died in the attack, a number that is feared to rise.
Israel's military says it has targeted one of Hamas' facilities. They claim in a statement that al-Aqsa Hospital "was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli troops and the State of Israel". They also claim to have taken several measures to ensure that civilians are not harmed.
Polio vaccination was cancelled
Just a few hours earlier, Israel attacked a school in the same area that had been converted into a hospital. At least 20 people died, several of whom were children, according to reports from local hospitals.
The United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, Unrwa, said that on the same day the second phase of the major vaccination campaign against polio was to begin in the building.
"We had to cancel the vaccination in that school due to severe injuries," writes Unrwa's commissioner-general at X.
The campaign was launched after the first case of polio in 25 years was detected in Gaza. A ten-month-old boy then became paralyzed in one of his legs as a result of the disease.
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