“About 50 martyrs were recovered from inside Al-Buraq school… in the Al-Nasr neighborhood in Gaza after missile and artillery strikes that targeted the school this morning,” hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya said as quoted by AFP. 

Thousands of people are seeking safety in southern Gaza yesterday after fleeing the enclave’s main hospital in what Palestinian officials said was an Israeli air strike, Reuters reported. 

Ayman Al-Masri has taken refuge at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, in the north of the enclave, with his mother and sister 10 days ago after receiving treatment in another hospital for a leg wound.

Their hopes were shattered by an attack that Palestinian officials said killed one person and wounded others who were sheltering at Al Shifa, one of several hospitals that officials said were hit on Friday.

Speaking to Reuters, Masri said, “They struck Shifa today… Everyone started to run to the streets and we came here walking. My family and I family walked three kilometers (two miles) before passing Israeli tanks that had advanced to the city, and we walked a few more kilometers beyond the tanks before getting a lift.”

A woman who fled Al Shifa on Friday said she had been receiving treatment for a wound in the maternity department. “We were on the fifth floor because we were wounded so we were staying there, and then we found bombs falling on us,” she said. 

On the other hand, a man lay motionless under a bench, and a woman clad in black sat slumped over a chair next to him. Clothes, other personal belongings, mattresses and other household items were strewn all around, and there was blood on the floor.

People were screaming! One man was shown leading away a crying elderly woman. Two men carried away a young man, one holding his legs, the other his hands, as per Reuters reports.

A deadly strike hit Gaza’s largest hospital compound as heavy fighting between Hamas and Israel has sent tens of thousands of civilians fleeing their homes. Israel on Thursday had also reported heavy fighting near the hospital, saying it had killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas’s capacity to fight.

The Israeli army has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals, particularly Al-Shifa, to coordinate their attacks against the army and also as hideouts for its commanders. Hamas authorities deny the accusations.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Updated: 11 Nov 2023, 07:57 AM IST