A rescuer works at the site of an Israeli attack on tents sheltering displaced people at a hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]
Videos from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital show rescuers scrambling to save people as they struggle to contain a major fire set off by Israeli bombs. Despite those efforts, some patients died in the flames.
Originally published in Al Jazeera.
At least four people have been killed and dozens of others wounded in an Israeli air attack on a hospital complex in central Gaza where displaced Palestinians sought shelter from Israel’s assault on the besieged territory.
The attack in the early hours of Monday struck the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital complex in Deir el-Balah and sent flames sweeping through a packed tent camp.
Videos shared on social media showed rescuers scrambling to save people as they struggled to contain the fire.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force carried out an attack on a “command and control centre” used by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, without providing evidence.
Israeli forces have regularly attacked medical facilities in Gaza since the assault began more than a year ago. In recent months, it has repeatedly struck crowded shelters and tent sites, alleging armed groups were using them.
“What happened was that we woke up to smoke, flames, fire and burning pieces falling on the tents from every direction. The explosions terrified us in our tents and outside where we live behind Al-Aqsa Hospital,” Om Ahmad Radi, a survivor at the scene, told Al Jazeera.
“The fire trucks couldn’t get here. There were so many burned and charred bodies all over the place. The amount of fire and explosions was enormous. We witnessed one of the most horrible and brutal nights.”
Volunteer surgeon Mohammad Tahir said they were dealing with victims with burns on 60 to 80 percent of their bodies – many of whom won’t survive.
“Patients with significant high percentage burns – unfortunately, their fate is sealed. They won’t even make it to the ICU. They will die,” he told Al Jazeera from outside the hospital.
“It’s a horror show here. Honestly, sometimes I feel like this is not real life, that this can go on, and this degree of suffering is allowed to happen in this world.”
Hospital records showed that four people were killed and 40 wounded, The Associated Press news agency reported. Twenty-five people were transferred to the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza after suffering severe burns, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Gaza’s Media Office said it was the seventh time this year that Israel has hit the grounds of Al-Aqsa Hospital and the third in the past couple of weeks, killing Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said more than 20 tents were destroyed in the attack.
“There were many people inside the tents as the fire spread, who could not be saved,” he said. “We are looking at a large number [of deaths] as these tents are close to each other, back-to-back, and set up in a small space inside the hospital courtyard.”
Last week, a United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) released a report which found Israel perpetrating “a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system”.
The attack on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital comes after at least 22 people were killed and 80 others wounded late on Sunday when Israeli tanks shelled a school sheltering the displaced in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has destroyed large areas of the territory and displaced about 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million people, with many being uprooted repeatedly.
Israeli air and ground forces have laid a siege on Jabalia in northern Gaza for days, claiming Hamas fighters have regrouped there. Over the past year, Israeli troops have repeatedly returned to the refugee camp in Jabalia, which dates back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
The attack on Jabalia follows Israeli orders to fully evacuate northern Gaza, including Gaza City. An estimated 400,000 Palestinians remain in the north. The UN says no food has entered northern Gaza since October 1.
The Israeli military confirmed that hospitals were also included in its evacuation orders, adding that it had not set a timetable and was working with local authorities to facilitate patient transfers.
Fares Abu Hamza, an official with Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service, told The Associated Press news agency that bodies of a “large number of martyrs” remain uncollected from the streets and under rubble in the north.
“We are unable to reach them,” he said, adding that dogs were eating some remains.
Israel launched its offensive on Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and seizing around 250 others as hostages, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.
Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 42,200 people, mostly women and children, and injured about 98,400, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israel has increased its attacks in the West Bank as it pushes to expand its settlements and attempt to expel Palestinians from their lands.
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