ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES ON central Gaza have killed at least 210 people and injured some 400 more, according to the Hamas press office, which described the bombardment as a “massacre”. 

The bombardment targeting Nuiserat and Deir al-Balah was part of the same assault that the Israeli military has been carrying out in recent days in the centre of the Gaza Strip, which led to the release of four hostages who had been in Hamas captivity. 

“The number of victims from the Israeli occupation’s massacre in the Nuseirat camp has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded,” the Hamas press office said in a statement.

Hamas had earlier reported a toll of 94 killed in and around Nuseirat today. 

The Israeli army (IDF) said it was ”targeting terrorist infrastructure in the area of Nuseirat”, which is an overcrowded area where Palestinians have fled since the IDF invaded the southern city of Rafah. On Wednesday night, the IDF stuck a school in the area that was sheltering around 6,000 people, killing 40 people. 

Palestinians evacuate dead and wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in Deir al Balah. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Hospitals overwhelmed 

The Al-Aqsa Hospital has been overwhelmed by the dead and wounded arriving following the bombing, with many people forced to lie on the floor as staff struggle to treat them.  

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“That is what a massacre looks like,” a Doctors Without Borders paediatric intensive care doctor told Al Jazeera. 

“The images and videos that I’ve received show patients lying everywhere in pools of blood … their limbs have been blown off,” Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan said. 

She described the scene at Al-Aqsa Hospital as a “complete bloodbath”, adding that it looked “like a slaughterhouse”.

In a post on X, the medical NGO said its staff were assisting in treating “an overwhelming number of severely injured patients” at both Al-Aqsa Hospital and Nasser Hospital, many of whom are women and children. 

“It’s a nightmare at Al-Aqsa. There have been back-to-back mass casualties as densely populated areas are bombed. It’s way beyond what anyone could deal with in a functional hospital, let alone with the scarce resources we have here,” said Samuel Johann, MSF coordinator in Gaza.

“In one hour, we’ve received about 50 badly injured patients. There are people with multiple major open fractures. We’ve got several unconscious children. The intensive care unit is full, and more patients are arriving,” said Chris Hook, MSF medical referent at Nasser hospital.

Palestinians killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, vowed to keep fighting after the Israeli attack on the camp.

“Our people will not surrender, and the resistance will continue to defend our rights in the face of this criminal enemy,” he said in a statement.

Near Nuseirat today, an AFP photographer saw scores of Palestinians fleeing the Bureij camp on foot, fearing further Israeli strikes.

Israel’s siege, bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October has now killed at least 36,801, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

Includes reporting from AFP.

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