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Dozens killed in strikes on Gaza – as UN Security Council urged to ‘prevent genocide’
Dozens of people have been killed following Israeli strikes in Gaza, including at hospitals, as a United Nations chief warned action is needed to “prevent genocide”.
On Wednesday morning, Israeli airstrikes hit homes in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, killing at least 53 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Indonesian Hospital said 22 of those who died were children.
The Israeli military refused to comment on the strikes, but had warned local residents to evacuate late on Tuesday night due to Hamas infrastructure in the area, including rocket launchers.
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UN Security Council urged to aid Gaza
On Tuesday, nine missiles hit the European Hospital and its courtyard in the south of the Palestinian territory, killing at least 16 people, the Gaza health ministry said.
Israel said it had hit a “Hamas command centre” beneath the hospital in Khan Younis.
Israeli airstrikes struck Jabalia, northern Gaza on Wednesday. Pic: AP
Some homes were destroyed in the attacks. Pic: AP
Hamas denies exploiting hospitals and civilian properties for military purposes.
Security Council urged to ‘prevent genocide’
The United Nations’ top humanitarian official briefed the Security Council on Tuesday evening, warning they must “act now” to “prevent genocide”, a claim that Israel vehemently denied.
Tom Fletcher, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, accused Israel of “deliberately and unashamedly” imposing inhumane conditions on Palestinians by blocking aid from entering Gaza more than 10 weeks ago.
The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel’s attempt to control aid distribution. “It is a cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction. A fig leaf for further violence and displacement,” Mr Fletcher said about the proposal.
Airstrike on the European Hospital in Khan Younis on Tuesday, which Israel claimed was hosting a ‘Hamas command centre’. Pic: social media/Reuters
The European Hospital is ‘barely functional’ according to medics after suffering damage. Pic: Reuters
Blast threw hospital staff to the floor
British surgeon Dr Tom Potokar, who is based at the European Hospital in Gaza, described hearing “one extremely loud explosion followed very, very rapidly by a number of others”.
He told Sky News’ Gareth Barlow that he rushed outside and saw “a huge crater in the entrance to the hospital” and “quite a few wounded lying around”.
He said the hospital is “barely functional” after suffering internal damage with “rubble on the floor… bits of ceiling coming down, water leaking from the roofs, and large cracks in the actual walls”.
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IDF confirms deadly hospital strikes in Gaza
Another blast crater is visible outside the European Hospital. Pic: Reuters
Colleague Milena Chee was in the intensive care unit when she says a “very strong and loud blast” threw her to the floor, adding staff were “very scared and shocked”.
Describing the impact of Israel’s aid blockade on Gaza, Ms Chee said: “There is no medical supplies whatsoever. There is no tissues to wipe our hands when we wash them. Now there is even no water. We lack soap, cleaning materials, medications, supplies, consumables, whatever you can think about… it is lacking.”
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Earlier, a well-known Palestinian photojournalist died following a separate attack on the Nasser Hospital, also in Khan Younis, said the ministry.
Hassan Aslih – one of two patients who died – had been accused by Israel of working with Hamas and was recovering from an earlier airstrike.
Aslih, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and previously worked with several Western news organisations, was said by the Israelis to have recorded and uploaded footage of “looting, arson and murder” during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack into Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian journalist Hassan Aslih. Pic: Reuters
At least 160 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
Gazan officials accuse Israel of deliberately targeting journalists. Israel denies this and says it tries to avoid harm to civilians.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has spoken on the phone to Edan Alexander after he was released by Hamas on Monday, as part of ongoing efforts to achieve a permanent ceasefire with Israel.
The 21-year-old was believed to be the last living American hostage in Gaza.
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Some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the 7 October attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s response has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and destroyed much of the coastal territory. Gaza’s health ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
An aid blockade since March has left the population at critical risk of famine, according to the World Health Organisation, which warned on Tuesday that hunger and malnutrition could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation”.