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An Israeli airstrike hit close to the doorway of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza Metropolis on Friday, killing a number of individuals, in accordance with Gazan and Israeli officers, simply as Palestinians mentioned a convoy of ambulances was making ready to depart the hospital carrying wounded individuals to the Gaza border, to cross into Egypt for remedy.
The Israeli army mentioned it had carried out the strike on an ambulance “being utilized by a Hamas terrorist cell,” including in a press release that “numerous Hamas terrorist operatives have been killed within the strike.” An Israeli army spokesman, Maj. Nir Dinar, confirmed that it was the identical strike that induced the explosion exterior the hospital.
The pinnacle of Al Shifa Hospital, Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, mentioned that 13 individuals had been killed and plenty of have been injured. He mentioned that paramedics and sufferers within the evacuation convoy have been among the many injured, however that none had been killed. The demise toll couldn’t be independently verified.
The explosion occurred about 4:30 p.m., in accordance with native reviews.
Hours earlier, a spokesman for the Well being Ministry, Ashraf al-Qudra, had introduced in a information convention {that a} convoy carrying “numerous injured individuals” would head south on Al Rasheed, a coastal freeway, at 4 p.m., towards the Rafah border crossing. A variety of severely injured individuals have in current days been taken to Egypt for medical remedy that’s not accessible within the Gaza Strip.
In a later information convention, Mr. al-Qudra mentioned that the convoy had left the hospital and had gotten to a close-by roundabout, Ansar, when it was hit by an airstrike. The convoy turned again, he mentioned, and when it obtained again to the doorway of Al Shifa, it was hit once more. He mentioned 15 individuals had been killed and 60 wounded.
A press release late Friday from the Palestine Purple Crescent Society mentioned that there have been 5 ambulances within the convoy, 4 operated by the Gazan Well being Ministry and one by the charity. It mentioned the ambulances left the hospital at 4:05 p.m. and headed towards the southern border, however after about 2.5 miles reached a crater within the street and needed to flip again.
The assertion mentioned that when the returning convoy was lower than a half-mile from the hospital, a strike hit the main ambulance, which was operated by the Gazan well being ministry. The opposite 4 ambulances proceeded to Al Shifa Hospital. When the Purple Crescent Society’s ambulance reached inside a couple of ft of the doorway, it, too, was hit, the assertion mentioned.
Al Shifa Hospital has been on the middle of quite a few claims and crises because the begin of the warfare. Israel says that Hamas, which controls Gaza and orchestrated a lethal assault on Israel on Oct. 7, is working a command middle beneath the hospital. Hamas has denied that.
Displaced Gazans live in and across the facility, believing it to be safer than different options.
The Gazan Well being Ministry and worldwide support teams say Al Shifa is operating out of gasoline and has needed to curtail operations amid a continued cutoff of electrical energy and gasoline from Israel. Medical doctors have mentioned they’re treating giant numbers of individuals wounded in airstrikes with out sufficient drugs and provides.
Ismail Alghoull, who was filming contained in the hospital at the moment of the explosion, mentioned he heard a blast close to the ambulances and ran exterior to see what had occurred. He noticed dozens of casualties, he mentioned.
Salama Maarouf, the spokesman for the Hamas-led Gaza administration, mentioned that one among his staff, Haytham Harara, was among the many useless.
Ali Jadallah, a photographer for Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Company, mentioned that he was on the hospital along with his sister. They have been visiting their mom, who had been severely injured in an assault that destroyed their household residence and killed 4 of their siblings in addition to their father. They have been close to the doorway of the hospital when the explosion occurred, he mentioned. His sister was hit by shrapnel.
Yousur Al-Hlou, Neil Collier, Patrick Kingsley and Nader Ibrahim contributed reporting.
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