Israeli strikes wound several in Gaza medical warehouse, kill two elsewhere

Several people have been wounded in an Israeli strike on a medical warehouse inside a hospital compound in central Gaza, while separate attacks killed two people elsewhere in the Strip.

The Israeli drone strike targeted a tent used as a medical supply warehouse inside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital complex in Deir el-Balah on Saturday, injuring three people, the hospital’s director said.

The Israeli military confirmed it hit a target within the compound of Al-Aqsa Hospital, claiming without evidence that a Hamas commander was struck.

Separately, another Israeli drone struck a bike in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood. The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that at least one person was killed and two injured in that attack. The casualties were taken to al-Quds Field Hospital.

In a separate attack earlier in the day, one person was killed by Israeli gunfire in the village of al-Musaddar, east of Deir el-Balah.

An Israeli quadcopter also dropped an explosive device in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, according to hospital officials.

Israel has escalated its attacks across the Gaza Strip in recent days despite the so-called “ceasefire”.

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported receiving a total of 10 bodies over the past 48 hours – nine newly killed and one recovered from under rubble – along with 18 wounded.

It said other victims remain trapped beneath destroyed buildings or on roads that ambulance and civil defence crews have been unable to reach.

Since the “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas took effect in October last year, the ministry said, 1,313 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks.

Meanwhile, between 4,000 and 5,000 Palestinians remain missing and are believed to be under rubble in Gaza, the Palestinian Centre for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons said on Saturday.

It added that between 2,500 and 3,000 people may have been subjected to forced disappearance in Gaza during Israel’s genocidal war.

The centre’s estimate is based on an analytical study of a sample of 317 cases, and it said the findings showed indicators warranting an investigation into the possibility of a broader pattern of enforced disappearances.

Of the 317 cases examined, 302, or 95.27 percent, were male and 15 were female. The sample included 41 children and 17 people aged 60 or older.

Since Israel’s war began in October 2023, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 174,000 injured, most of them women and children.