Israel hits Gaza hospitals in deadly strikes after pause to allow release of Edan Alexander

Israeli strikes connected hospitals successful Gaza connected Tuesday reportedly killed astatine slightest 18 people, aft a little intermission successful warring which saw the merchandise of 21-year-old Israeli-American Edan Alexander, who had been successful Hamas captivity since the 7 October 2023 attack.

The strikes deed the European Hospital analyzable adjacent Khan Younis and near ample craters gouged into the crushed and cracks successful the courtyard extracurricular the European Hospital complex, images from the AFP quality bureau show. A damaged autobus was lodged successful a spread successful the road.

“Everyone wrong the infirmary – patients and wounded alike – was moving successful fear, immoderate connected crutches, others screaming for their children, portion others were being dragged connected beds,” Amro Tabash, a section photojournalist, told AFP.

A autobus lies successful a crater pursuing Israeli strikes extracurricular the European infirmary analyzable adjacent Khan Younis successful Gaza. Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters

Israeli media reported that the people of the strikes connected the European Hospital analyzable was Hamas person Mohammed Sinwar, member of the group’s erstwhile leader, Yahya Sinwar, who was killed successful an Israeli operation successful October 2024. Israel’s subject said it deed a “Hamas bid centre” beneath the hospital.

Hamas denies exploiting hospitals and civilian properties for subject purposes

The different onslaught deed Gaza’s Nasser hospital, which the Israeli subject said targeted “eliminated important Hamas terrorists”, among them a well-known Palestinian journalist, Hassan Aslih. Gaza’s wellness ministry said 1 different idiosyncratic died successful the Nasser infirmary strike.

Israel had accused Aslih of participating successful Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks. It has said Aslih documented and uploaded footage of “looting, arson and murder” during the Hamas-led incursion into Israel.

The merchandise of 21-year-old Israeli-American Edan Alexander offered a little intermission successful the warring connected Monday. But the strikes resumed amid fierce caller disapproval of Israel’s tactics successful the war.

“In the precise coming days, we are going successful with afloat unit to implicit the operation,” Netanyahu was quoted arsenic saying successful a connection released connected Tuesday.

On Monday, Netanyahu said his country’s cognition successful Gaza would beryllium considered implicit lone erstwhile Hamas is destroyed.

“There volition beryllium nary concern wherever we halt the war,” helium said. “A impermanent ceasefire mightiness happen, but we are going each the way.”

UN alleviation main Tom Fletcher called connected the UN information assembly to instrumentality enactment “to forestall genocide” successful Gaza arsenic helium gave a scathing relationship of Israel’s actions successful the territory.

“Will you enactment – decisively – to forestall genocide and to guarantee respect for planetary humanitarian law?” helium said to UN ambassadors successful New York.

Late connected Tuesday, the Israeli subject urged civilians successful respective parts of bluish Gaza to evacuate aft it intercepted “two projectiles” fired from the territory. The equipped helping of Hamas state Islamic Jihad claimed work for rocket occurrence into Israel, which has been uncommon successful caller weeks.

Netanyahu credited Alexander’s merchandise connected Monday to a operation of “our subject unit and the governmental unit exerted by President Trump.” This has been rejected by Hamas, which has said it engaged successful nonstop talks with Washington connected a ceasefire successful Gaza.

Netanyahu thanked Trump for helping successful the merchandise and said helium would beryllium sending negotiators to Qatar connected Tuesday to sermon remaining captives. Trump arrived successful Saudi Arabia connected Tuesday to commencement a Gulf circuit that volition besides instrumentality him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Hamas’s 2023 onslaught connected Israel resulted successful the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based connected authoritative data.

Militants besides abducted 251 people, of whom 57 are inactive being held successful Gaza, including 34 declared dormant by the Israeli army.

The Israeli violative successful retaliation for the onslaught has killed astatine slightest 52,908 radical successful Gaza, mostly civilians, according to information from the Hamas-run wellness ministry, which is considered reliable by the UN.