Deir Al-Balah/Gaza: Israel struck a hospital in northern Gaza early on Sunday, forcing patients to evacuate as attacks intensified, the Associated Press reported.
The pre-dawn strike hit Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, run by the Diocese of Jerusalem, after Israel issued an evacuation warning, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. One patient, a girl, died during the evacuation because medical staff were unable to provide urgent care, it said.
The hospital condemned the attack in a statement, saying it happened on “Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week, the most sacred week of the Christian year”. Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
Israel, which had claimed earlier that the explosion in the hospital was caused by a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, later said that it was targeting a command and control centre used by Hamas at the hospital to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, without providing evidence. It said prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm, including issuing warnings and using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
Hours later, a separate strike on a car in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed at least seven people — six brothers and their friend — according to staff at the morgue of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
The Israeli military also said they targeted another command and control centre in the area of Deir al-Balah when many Hamas militants were present and planning to carry out an attack against Israeli soldiers. This was not connected to the strike on the car in the same area, which the army said it was looking into.
The strikes came hours after Israel's defence minister said that military activity would rapidly expand across Gaza and that people would have to evacuate from “fighting zones”.
Israel also announced Saturday the completion of the Morag corridor, cutting off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, with the military saying it would soon expand “vigorously” in most of the small coastal territory.
Israeli authorities have vowed to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.
The director of Al-Ahli Hospital, Dr Fadel Naim, said they were warned of the attack before it was struck. In a post on X, he wrote that the emergency room, pharmacy and surrounding buildings were severely damaged, impacting more than 100 patients and dozens of medical staff.
The health ministry said the strike destroyed the ward for outpatients and laboratories and damaged the emergency ward.