Several Palestinians killed, injured in Israeli airstrike on Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza

By Mustafa Haboush

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Several Palestinians were killed and injured Monday in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in western Gaza City.

Israeli fighter jets targeted the specialized surgery building in the facility, while tanks shelled the hospital's gate and courtyard, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Most of the casualties are reported from the displaced people of the eastern areas of Gaza City who sought refuge in the hospital in recent weeks, the eyewitnesses added.

According to Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesman for the Gaza-based Ministry of Health, the hospital shelters thousands of displaced people who have been forcibly uprooted from their homes.

In November, the Israeli forces imposed a strict blockade on the Al-Shifa Hospital, directly targeting patients, war-injured people, medical staff, and displaced people.

The army withdrew from the Al-Shifa Medical Complex on Nov. 25, approximately 10 days after its incursion.

Israel's air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas have killed more than 18,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 51,000 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The war has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.

• Writing by Mohammad Sio