Dozens killed, injured in Israeli bombing of European Hospital in Gaza

GAZA, May 14 (YPA) – The Israeli occupation forces committed a new massacre against medical staff and patients, as their warplanes on Tuesday carried out a series of airstrikes on the vicinity and courtyards of the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

These raids resulted in the deaths of 16 people and the injury of more than 70 others, according to the Ministry of Health.

Medical sources and eyewitnesses confirmed that the attack was carried out using dense fire belts, which struck the internal courtyards and surroundings of the hospital, where there are tents for the displaced and vital facilities designated to serve patients.

Systematic targeting of health institutions

The Palestinian Ministry of Health considered this targeting part of an ongoing policy by the occupation forces aimed at destroying the health sector in Gaza. “These attacks on hospitals and medical personnel constitute a flagrant violation of all international and humanitarian laws.”

The ministry explained that medical teams face great challenges in transporting the injured as a result of the intensity of the bombing and the disruption of some basic facilities inside the hospital, adding that there are a number of wounded in critical condition.

Danger to hospitals and displaced people

 Gaza’s European Hospital is one of the largest medical centers currently operating in the south of the Strip, and it shelters inside and around thousands of displaced people who have taken refuge there to escape bombing in other areas.

 This massacre comes as part of an ongoing escalation since the occupation army resumed its aggression against the Gaza Strip last March, as hospitals and shelters have become direct targets, despite the protection that international laws are supposed to provide them as civilian facilities.

YPA