AN Israeli airstrike has hit Gaza’s largest hospital, killing and wounding several people, witnesses have said.
Al Jazeera television aired footage appearing to show the aftermath of the strike on Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, with several people sprawled lifeless on the ground inside the medical compound, which includes several buildings.
Two people sheltering at the hospital confirmed the strike to the Associated Press.
Assad Abu Radwan, who saw the strike, counted five dead and said he helped two wounded people take cover inside.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Shifa was the scene of a prolonged standoff earlier in the war when Israel accused Hamas of concealing a major command centre inside and under the medical compound, allegations denied by hospital staff and the militant group.
After raiding Shifa last month, Israel revealed what it said was a militant hideout in a tunnel under the hospital and other evidence that it said proved Hamas had used the facility.
Fighting outside Shifa had left hundreds of patients and tens of thousands of displaced people stranded for days with little food, water or medical supplies.
Most evacuated the hospital, which had all but stopped functioning, as Israeli forces closed in.
But in the weeks since the raid the hospital has become a shelter once again.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which is working to restore services at Shifa and was able to visit on Friday, described its emergency department as a “bloodbath”.
It said there were hundreds of wounded patients, some being sutured on the floor with little or no pain relief.
The WHO said tens of thousands of people are sheltering in the medical compound despite severe shortages of food and water.
