At least 200 killed in Israeli bombing of Gaza hospital, according to Hamas
Gaza, Oct 17 (EFE).- An Israeli bombing of a hospital in the central Gaza Strip left at least 200 dead on Tuesday, the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the enclave, denounced.
“At least 200 killed by Israeli bombardment” at Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement, adding that hundreds were wounded.
The Gazan news agency Sanad, citing official sources, said the death toll could exceed 500.
EFE asked the Israeli army about the incident, which stated that it was investigating the events.
Its chief military spokesman, Daniel Hagari, told the Israeli press that for the moment it was not known whether the attack was carried out by Israeli warplanes.
“There are many (Israeli) bombings, many failed rocket launches (by Palestinian militias), and many hoaxes spread by Hamas,” Hagari said.
This is the deadliest attack so far since the outbreak of the war between the armed wing of Hamas and Israel on October 7, which has left more than 3,000 dead in Gaza and 1,400 dead in Israeli territory.
According to local sources, the health center, a Christian institution, was filled with about 2,000 people who were sheltering from the bombings after evacuating their homes in recent days, a dynamic seen in most hospitals in Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement that “the terrible massacre perpetrated by the Zionist occupation” on the hospital “is a crime of genocide.”
The eleven-day war between Israel and Hamas is the most humanly devastating armed conflict Gaza has seen in recent years, and nearly two-thirds of the dead in the enclave are civilian women and children.
EFE jma-amb/ics/mcd
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