At least 50 Palestinians, including five medical workers, were killed after Israeli warplanes targeted a building near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Thursday in the Beit Lahia area were Palestinians had been sheltering from Israel’s bombardment.
"There are nearly 50 martyrs, including three of our medical staff, under the rubble of a building opposite Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Beit Lahia Project area after it was bombed by Israeli warplanes," Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, said in a statement.
Among the dead were paediatrician Dr. Ahmed Samour, laboratory technician Israa Abu Zaida, technologist Fares Al Hudali, and paramedics Abdul Majeed Abu Al Aish and Maher Al Ajrami.
The hospital is struggling to remain operational, with 350 people sheltering inside, including 180 medical staff and 75 injured patients, all while enduring persistent aerial bombardments from Israeli forces.
The facility, which is the last working hospital in northern Gaza, has been rendered non-operational after weeks of near-daily attacks. It has been under an intense siege with constant bomb and drone attacks for weeks.
Just days earlier, the Israeli military had raided Kamal Adwan, demanding its evacuation while 400 civilians were sheltering inside.
Previous attacks have already claimed the lives of senior medical staff, including ICU director Dr. Ahmed al-Kahlout. Despite these grave losses, Palestinian medical teams remain on-site, albeit struggling under the severe limitations caused by the siege.
The situation is compounded by the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The enclave's population is enduring severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, with Israel's blockade preventing essential supplies from reaching the north of the territory in particular.
The United Nations and international human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned Israel’s actions, warning of dire consequences, including famine and mass displacement.
The World Health Organisation described conditions at Kamal Adwan as ‘appalling’, with the hospital operating at minimal capacity due to constant attacks.
Elsewhere in Gaza, winter has exacerbated the suffering. At Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, three babies died from hypothermia as temperatures plunged.
Dr Ahmed al-Farra said a three-week-old girl was "brought to the emergency room with a severe temperature drop, which led to her death" on Wednesday.
The war’s toll on Gaza’s children is particularly devastating, with over half of the more than 45,300 people killed by Israel in Gaza since October 2023 being women and children.
Israel has been accused by international organisations of committing a genocide in Gaza, with about 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents displaced.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.