At least 39 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, hospital hit, says Gaza ministry

Cairo: At least 39 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the enclave's health officials said.

Israel's military has accused the Palestinian militant group Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said "dozens of terrorists" have been hiding there. Health officials and Hamas deny the charge.

Later on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on two houses in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza strip killed at least nine Palestinians, medics told Reuters.

Northern Gaza, where Israel said in January it had dismantled Hamas' command structure, is currently the main focus of the military's assault in the enclave. Earlier this month it sent tanks into Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahiya to flush out militants it said had regrouped in the area.

Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan - which is in Beit Lahiya - told Reuters some staff had suffered minor burns after the Israeli strike hit the third floor of the hospital.

There were no reports of any casualties at the hospital, which Israeli forces stormed and briefly occupied last week. Israel said it had captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in that raid. Israeli tanks are still stationed nearby.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip called for all international bodies "to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the (Israeli) occupation".

The Israeli military has said its forces are operating in the hospital area based on intelligence about the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the vicinity.

"During the operation, it was found that dozens of terrorists were hiding in the hospital, with some even posing as hospital staff," said the military in a statement following Thursday's strike.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Thursday that one of its doctors at the hospital, Mohammed Obeid, had been detained last Saturday by Israeli forces. It called for the protection of him and all medical staff who "are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care".

The Gaza war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of the enclave to rubble, Palestinian authorities say.