By Anadolu staff
JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army acknowledged late Sunday that it had bombed tents housing displaced persons at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip.
The attack resulted in the deaths of four Palestinians and injuries to 40 others, including severe burns.
A military statement said: “With the direction of IDF (army) and ISA intelligence, the IAF (air forces) conducted a precise strike on members who were operating inside a command and control center in the area of Deir al-Balah.”
“The command-and-control center, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the 'Shuhadah Al-Aqsa' (Al-Aqsa Martyrs) hospital, was used by Hamas members to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the State of Israel,” the statement claimed.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli warplanes bombed several displacement tents in the hospital’s courtyard, igniting a large fire that engulfed around 30 tents.
At least four Palestinians were killed and 40 injured in an Israeli strike on the area, officials from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Palestine’s official news agency WAFA.
The victims suffered severe burns, with bodies charred beyond recognition. Most of the injured sustained second and third-degree burns, witnesses told Anadolu.
According to a written statement from the government media office in Gaza, this was the Israeli army's seventh attack targeting the tents of displaced civilians at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Israeli warplanes bombed the tents of displaced civilians in the hospital compound before on Jan. 10, March 13, July 22, Aug. 4, and Sept. 27.
Images of people trapped in the flames have flooded social media.
Witnesses also reported that the fire spread rapidly due to the flammable nylon and fabric materials used in the tents.
Medical teams evacuated several injured individuals, including women and children, whose clothes were set ablaze by the explosion.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
More than 42,200 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,400 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio