Israeli strikes hit Gaza as Health Ministry urges Rafah opening
Gaza’s Health Ministry says dozens died awaiting treatment abroad as Israeli attacks continue despite a ceasefire.
At least two people have been killed in the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza, as the Ministry of Health in the strip calls for the Rafah crossing to be opened to allow sick and wounded Palestinians to leave for treatment.
Israeli attacks across Gaza continue at a “very high pace” on Thursday, with drone strikes hitting the centre and north of the territory over the past few hours, according to Al Jazeera’s Ashraf Abu Amra.
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Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Abu Amra said an Israeli drone fired two missiles in quick succession at a civilian car in the middle of the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing two Palestinians and wounding others.
The wounded were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where they were rushed into operating theatres or admitted to intensive care. One is in critical condition.
“The strike was sudden and came without prior warning,” Abu Amra said, noting that Israeli aircraft are flying at low altitude across all areas of the strip.
Earlier, an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, wounded a Palestinian who was taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Abu Amra said attacks were escalating east of Jabalia in the Halawa camp, one of the largest displacement camps in the north, where Israeli forces stationed along the edges of the so-called “Yellow Line” have begun firing directly at tents sheltering displaced families.
Israeli strikes in east Gaza City
In eastern Gaza City, explosions have been heard in the Shujayea, Tuffah and Zeitoun neighbourhoods as a result of Israeli artillery shelling. Israeli forces are also carrying out large-scale demolitions in areas under their control behind the “Yellow Line”, including east of Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, and in Beit Lahiya in the north, destroying homes and what remains of local infrastructure.
On Thursday morning, four Palestinians were buried at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after being killed in an Israeli drone strike in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah, near the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings.
Abu Amra said the victims were civilian employees of the Ministry of Economy who monitor aid trucks entering through Karem Abu Salem.
More than 30 others were wounded in the attack, according to Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians live in tents in al-Mawasi, which Israel had previously designated a “safe zone”.
Al-Kahlout also reported that 11 people, including women and children, were wounded when Israeli artillery struck a house east of Gaza City, citing emergency services.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that six Palestinians had been killed and 38 wounded over the previous 24 hours.
The violence came as the ministry renewed its call for the Rafah crossing to be opened so that sick and wounded Palestinians can leave the territory for treatment.
In a statement, the ministry said 21,468 patients and wounded people need to travel for care outside Gaza, including 6,430 identified as priority cases.
It blamed repeated border closures and what it described as deliberate delays in evacuation procedures for worsening patients’ conditions, saying dozens had died while waiting for permission to leave and the health of thousands more had seriously deteriorated.
Since February, 3,056 patients and wounded people have been evacuated for treatment abroad, the ministry said, 2,614 through Rafah, which connects Gaza with Egypt, and 442 through the Karem Abu Salem crossing with Israel.