Israel attacks largest hospital in southern Gaza and kills Hamas leader

The National

24-03-2025

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Israel's military struck southern Gaza 's largest hospital on Sunday night, killing at least two people, wounding others and causing a large fire, the enclave's Health Ministry said. Palestinian news agency Wafa put the death toll at five, saying the hospital's surgical section is now out of service after the strike.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the centre was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of air strikes.
Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas 's political bureau, who was being treated at the hospital was killed on Sunday, the group said. Also a 16-year-old boy who underwent surgery two days ago, was killed, according to the ministry.
Israel's military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there.
'A short while ago, the IDF and ISA precisely struck a key terrorist in the Hamas terrorist organisation who was operating inside the Nasser Hospital compound,' the military said late on Sunday. The strike, it said, was conducted following an extensive intelligence-gathering process and with precise munitions 'in order to mitigate harm to the surrounding environment as much as possible'.
Like other medical centres around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and air strikes throughout the war.
More than 50,021 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the ministry said on Sunday. The number includes 673 people killed since Israel's bombardment last week ended a fragile ceasefire. Dr Munir Al Barsh, the ministry's general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under one year old.
The Israeli military has disputed the data given by the ministry, saying they 'replete with inconsistencies and false determinations'. The military says the ministry does not differentiate between civilian casualties and militants, and 'has been known to record deaths unrelated to the conflict, such as natural deaths'.
Israel claims to have 'eliminated' dozens of militants since it restarted its strike on the enclave which killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Wafa news agency reported that at least 13 people were killed including children and women in Israeli air strikes across Gaza overnight. Six people, including children, were killed in a strike on a tent housing displaced people in southern Khan Younis, according to medical sources.
A number of people were also killed and others injured in a strike on a house in eastern Khan Younis, Wafa said. At least six were injured in an attack on five vehicles across the city, while others were injured in attacks on tents of displaced people west of the city.
In Central Gaza, two women were killed and others injured when a warplane struck an apartment in Nuseirat.
Also, in Gaza city, a girl was killed and others injured in Al Zeitoun neighbourhood. Four people, including women, were killed in strikes on two houses in Shujaiya neighbourhood in the city.
A ceasefire in Gaza that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
In the ceasefire's first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli troops allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas into changing the ceasefire agreement.
The two sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire's next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages – 35 of them believed to be dead – in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began.
EU-Arab-Islamic meeting in Cairo
An Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee met in Cairo on Sunday with Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
'They discussed recent developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and expressed their grave concern over the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza and the large number of civilian casualties in recent air strikes,' the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
They also condemned the resumption of hostilities and the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and called for an immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage and detainees release agreement, that went into effect on January 19, the ministry said.
They also stressed the need for progress towards second phase of the deal with a view to its full implementation, including the release of all hostages, a permanent end to hostilities, and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2735.
They also stressed the importance of unifying the Gaza Strip with the occupied West Bank under the Palestinian Authority (PA) and supporting the PA in assuming all of its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip, and ensuring it can effectively uphold its role in administering both Gaza and the West Bank.
Ms Kallas said at the end of her visit to Egypt that fighting in Gaza must end and humanitarian assistance to the war-battered enclave resume.
'We strongly oppose Israel's resumption of hostilities, which caused appalling loss of life in Gaza. The killing must stop. In a new war, both sides lose,' Ms Kallas said late on Sunday night before she flew to Israel.
Speaking in Cairo, she said Hamas must release all hostages and negotiations begin on the fate of the ceasefire in Gaza.