Casualties reported as Israeli airstrike targets vicinity of hospital in Deir al-balah

By Abdel Jabar Abu Ras

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Several Palestinians were injured Thursday in an Israeli military airstrike targeting the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza Strip, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

“An Israeli reconnaissance missile struck the surroundings of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital, resulting in injuries, including children,” said the correspondent.

Anadolu cameras captured panic and distress among dozens of Palestinians at the site of the airstrike, with bodies lying on the ground.

It remains unknown if the airstrike has resulted in fatalities.

In footage taken by Anadolu, a wounded child, visibly in pain, was being transported by ambulance to the hospital.

The child, who suffered injuries to the abdomen and hand from the airstrike, implored paramedics to administer anesthesia before commencing medical intervention.

Another child, not more than 3 years old, was observed embracing his mother, blood seeping from his nose. A medic tried to sanitize the child's wounds sustained during the Deir al-Balah airstrike, according to his mother.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital had previously received and treated several injured Palestinians, including children, as a result of earlier Israeli attacks.

Anadolu documented Wednesday that residents of Deir al-Balah gathered for the burial of 50 victims in a mass grave adjacent to the city's cemetery.

“We are compelled to inter our deceased in mass graves, as our existing cemeteries are no longer adequate to accommodate the substantial number of martyrs,” Deir al-Balah Mayor Diab al-Jaru told Anadolu,

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala