Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 13, destroy al-Shifa’s cancer ward

Al Jazeera :
Israeli air strikes in Gaza have killed more than a dozen people and destroyed the main hospital’s cardiac ward, Gaza officials say, as fighting continues in the besieged strip for the 37th consecutive day.

At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a home in Khan Younis, Gaza officials reported on Sunday.

The day before, at least “several people” were killed and wounded in a strike at a UN compound in Gaza City where hundreds had sheltered, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

“The ongoing tragedy of death and injury to civilians ensnared in this conflict is unacceptable and must stop,” the UNDP said in a statement.

The strikes continue as Israel steps up its offensive near Gaza’s main hospital, al-Shifa, where health officials say thousands of medics, patients and displaced people are trapped with no electricity and dwindling supplies.

The hospital has repeatedly come under fire as Israeli forces close in on the facility, which it accuses Hamas fighters of using as cover for a command centre – charges Hamas denies.

Israel has not provided proof for its claims. Witnesses inside al-Shifa Hospital told the AFP news agency that “violent fighting” had raged around the hospital all Saturday night.

One air strike destroyed the hospital’s cardiac ward, Gaza officials said, while electricity cuts shut off incubators in the neonatal unit hosting around 40 babies and ventilators for others receiving urgent care.

Doctors Without Borders surgeon Mohammed Obeid said in an audio message posted on social media that two babies died in the al-Shifa neonatal unit after power to their incubators depleted and a man also died when his ventilator cut off.