Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital kill 28

At least 28 people were killed on Tuesday in Israeli strikes in the area surrounding the European Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, according to the civil defence agency.

Civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP that "according to our crews on the ground, 28 martyrs have been recovered from the area" surrounding the hospital in the south of the Palestinian territory.

Ahmad Radwan, civil defence media officer in the southern Gaza Strip, had previously put the initial toll at seven dead and 30 injured "following the occupation's bombing of the vicinity and courtyard of the European Hospital".

The Israeli military claimed it had struck "Hamas terrorists in a command and control centre located in an underground terrorist infrastructure site beneath the European hospital in Khan Younis".

"It was an utterly catastrophic scene," Amro Tabash, a local photojournalist, told AFP.

"Everyone inside the hospital - patients and wounded alike - was running in fear, some on crutches, others screaming for their children, while others were being dragged on beds," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military claimed it had struck Hamas fighters "operating from within a command and control centre" at Nasser Hospital, also in Khan Younis.

The health ministry in Gaza said the strike killed two people and wounded several others.

Bassal said that "the Israeli army bombed the surgery building at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at dawn on Tuesday, killing journalist Hassan Aslih".

The Israeli military had previously accused Aslih of participating in Hamas's 7 October, 2023 attacks on Israel.

Israel resumed its  onslaught in Gaza on 18 March after ending its two-month truce with Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the military will enter Gaza "with full force" in the coming days, vowing to "complete the operation" which "means destroying Hamas".

(AFP and TNA staff)