Gaza medic says dozens killed, missing in Israeli strike

GAZA CITY: A hospital director said Thursday dozens were dead or missing after an Israeli strike in northern Gaza, while rescuers said another strike in the Palestinian territory killed 22 people.

One strike was reported in a residential area near the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which according to hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya killed or left unaccounted for “dozens of people”.

The process of retrieving the bodies and wounded continues, he told AFP, adding: “Bodies arrive at the hospital in pieces.”

Neither the civil defence agency nor the Hamas government’s health ministry in Gaza have confirmed a toll for the strike near the health facility.

“There are no ambulances, the health system has collapsed in northern Gaza,” Abu Safiya said.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency said 22 people were killed in another strike on Gaza City.

“We can confirm that 22 martyrs were transferred (to hospital) after a strike targeted a house… in Sheikh Radwan” neighbourhood of Gaza City, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

Israel launched a major military operation in northern Gaza in October. According to the health ministry, the operation has killed more than 1,000 people.

The war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

The health ministry in Gaza said the death toll in Israeli war has reached 43,985 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations verified the figures.