Fatalities as Israeli forces shell hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Several displaced Palestinians were killed and injured in Israeli shelling Tuesday of a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said.

The casualties occurred as displaced civilians leaving the Nasser Medical Complex came under fire from Israeli forces, the ministry added in a statement.

The ministry, however, did not provide an exact figure.

“The occupation forces ordered the hospital management to evacuate the displaced and keep the patients and medical staff inside, which puts them in extreme danger,” the ministry said.

There was no comment from the Israeli army on the report.

Israel has pounded Khan Younis since Jan. 22 as part of its deadly military offensive in the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

At least 28,473 Palestinians have been killed and 68,146 others injured in the Israeli offensive, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling this January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio