Worthy Christian News > Israel-Palestinian Conflict > Hospitals Hit As Thousands Flee Northern Gaza, Dozens Killed

Hospitals Hit As Thousands Flee Northern Gaza, Dozens Killed

By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos

JERUSALEM/GAZA (Worthy News) – Thousands of Palestinians fled northern Gaza for the fourth consecutive day through a corridor established by the Israel Defense Forces on Friday, but Hamas fighters tried to prevent a mass exodus by shooting at civilians, Worthy News learned.

Video material obtained and reviewed by Worthy News on Friday appeared to show Hamas firing at civilians attempting to flee near the al-Nasr hospital.

However, the Hamas-run health ministry said Friday that Israeli airstrikes hit three Gaza hospitals and a school on Friday, killing at least 22 people.

Israeli air strikes reportedly hit Gaza’s biggest hospital, the al-Shifa, on Friday, and also damaged parts of the Indonesian Hospital and allegedly set fire to the al-Rantisi Hospital in the northern part of Gaza, from where Hamas attacked Israel last month.

“Israel is turning its back to the international community and maintains its crimes against hospitals, health centers, and shelter centers across the Gaza Strip,” the Hamas-backed Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said in a statement.

Yet, a senior Israeli security official said initial findings indicated that one strike at Shifa was the result of a misfire by groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

A ground battle was also underway at another hospital, further crumbling Gaza’s health system as it struggles to cope with thousands of people wounded or displaced in Israel’s war against Hamas.

‘SURROUNDING HOSPITALS’

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Israeli tanks on Friday surrounded four hospitals from all directions, including the al-Rantisi Hospital, al-Nasr Hospital, and the eye and mental health hospitals.

About 1,000 people are seeking shelter at the besieged al-Rantisi, the only hospital in Gaza that specializes in treating children with cancer, officials said. Israel reportedly struck vehicles outside al-Rantisi, which is located in northern Gaza.

The Israeli army has alleged that Hamas hides in and under hospitals and that it has set up a command center under the al-Shifa Hospital.

Hamas, condemned as a terrorist organization by Israel, has denied the charges.

Hospital staff also said Hamas wasn’t operating from or near the medical facility, but it remained unclear whether they spoke under duress as Hamas rules the Gaza Strip.

While battles raged on Friday, Israel’s army “surrounded four hospitals from all directions,” said Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

Among the medical facilities being surrounded by Israeli forces was the al-Rantisi, the only hospital in Gaza specializing in treating children with cancer, where 1,000 people are seeking shelter, officials said.

FIGHTING PAUSES

Israeli tanks also besieged the al-Nasr Hospital and the eye and mental health hospitals, witnesses said.

Amid the ongoing clashes, the United States said Israel would begin to implement four-hour military pauses in areas of northern Gaza each day to allow civilians to flee.

The Israeli military says there will be “tactical, local pauses for humanitarian aid”… but “no ceasefire” amid concerns that Hamas would use those breaks to rearm.

Israel began striking Gaza after Hamas carried out the worst recorded atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust, also known as Shoah, on October 7, which saw 1,400 people killed and more than 200 taken hostage.

More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since, claims the Hamas-run health ministry, including more than 4,500 children. It wasn’t clear how many Hamas fighters were among the mentioned deaths, and the figures were complex to verify independently.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday they struck more than 15,000 sites identified as “terrorist targets” within the Gaza Strip since the war began on “Black Sabbath” Saturday, October 7.