AT least 12 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, medics said, as Israeli forces continue to press their siege and ground assault on the northern part of the Palestinian territory.
Medics in Gaza told the Reuters news agency on Monday at least seven people were killed in an attack on the north Gaza city of Beit Lahiya.
Five others were killed in attacks in central and southern Gaza.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last partially functioning hospital in the north of the enclave, was being attacked by Israeli forces.
“At this moment, occupation forces are continuing to violently bombard and destroy Kamal Adwan Hospital, targeting all parts of the hospital,” the ministry said.
Hospital director Hossam Abu Safieh said in a statement that the situation was “catastrophic”, and that “the army did not contact the hospital before directly targeting it”.
“Several of our staff have been injured, and we are unable to leave the hospital,” he said.
“We do not understand the purpose behind this bombing that is targeting the hospital.”
Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said this is the second time in recent weeks that the hospital had been attacked.
“The hospital does not operate as a health facility now. It’s more of accommodating injuries and the dead who are brought to the hospital,” Mahmoud said.
