Warring Battle In Gaza, Israeli Attack Kills 77 Palestinians

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi at Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The Israeli attack killed 77 Palestinians in Gaza in the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Sunday, with a number of health facilities targeted.

The Israeli military said it killed a senior militant Jihad Islam in an attack on a command center in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. No name or rank was mentioned.

"The command center and terrorists were attacked appropriately," the military said, adding the attack was intended to minimize "loss on civilians who were not involved in the hospital area".

"The Al-Aqsa Hospital building is not damaged and its function is not affected," he continued.

Palestinian health officials and Hamas media said the attack hit several tents inside Al-Aqsa Hospital, killing four people and injuring several people, including five journalists.

In the southern Gaza Strip's Khan Younis City, Israeli forces continued to blockade two major hospitals, and tanks opened fire on areas in the central and eastern regions of the region.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes killed nine people in Bani Suhaila near Khan Younis, while another air strike killed four people in the Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said it killed 15 gunmen in the central Gaza Strip and several others in Khan Younis, including near Al-Amal hospitals.

In Gaza City, Israeli forces continue to operate within Al Shifa Hospital, the largest in the region, the health ministry said. Residents living nearby said settlement districts had been destroyed by Israeli forces near Al Shifa Hospital.

"I went out to buy medicine from pharmacies and what I saw was very sad. The whole road with the building that used to be standing there was destroyed," said Abu Mustafa.

"This is not war, this is genocide," he told Reuters by telephone from Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said so far about 200 gunmen had died at Al Shifa hospital and hundreds more had surrendered.

"No hospital in the world looks like this. This is what terrorist houses look like," PM Netanyahu said at a news conference in Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said weapons were found in hospitals and "some of the complexes used to launch anti-tank missiles and where snipers operated were attacked by IAF (US Air Force) aircraft" in the Rimal neighborhood near Shifa Hospital.

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military attacks in Gaza since October 7, according to health authorities. Health officials say most of the fatalities were civilians, while Israel says at least a third of them are militants.

The war erupted after Hamas militants broke through the border and attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.