Israeli Strikes on the Gaza Strip Kill at Least 30 More Palestinians

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 Palestinians since dawn on Sunday, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as the daily US-backed slaughter continues.

One Israeli strike targeted an upper floor of al-Wafaa Hospital in Gaza City, killing at least seven Palestinians. “Seven martyrs and several injured people, including critical cases, have been recovered following the Israeli strike on the upper floor of the al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza City,” Gaza’s Civil Defense said.

The Israeli military claimed without evidence that it targeted a Hamas “command and control center” and said the building was no longer used as a hospital. Gaza’s Health Ministry disputed the claim, saying it’s partially functioning.

“The al-Wafaa Hospital is partially operational, providing care to patients with physical disabilities,” Munir al-Barsh, the director general of the Health Ministry, told AFP. “The hospital had been rehabilitated and was getting ready to receive patients. Had it not been targeted by Israeli shelling today, it would have been ready to fully reopen in the next few days.”

In central Gaza, Israeli forces shelled an area to the northwest of the Nuseirat refugee camp. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, at least nine were killed and 15 were wounded, and women and children were among the casualties.

In Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, at least seven Palestinians were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house. The Israeli military also issued a fresh evacuation order for Beit Hanoun, which has been under a total siege since early October as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign.

The violence on Sunday came two days after Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, another city that’s been under a total siege. The Israeli military burned the hospital, forced staff and patients to leave, and arrested the hospital’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, who had been pleading with the world for help for months as the IDF laid siege to the facility.

In the wake of Abu Safia’s capture, there are growing calls for his release, as many fear he will face the same fate as Adnan al-Bursh, a prominent doctor who was the head of orthopedic surgery at al-Shifa hospital and died in an Israeli prison after facing severe torture. The IDF claimed it was holding Abu Safia on suspicion of “being a Hamas terrorist operative.”

Amnesty International issued a statement calling for Abu Safia’s release. “Since the beginning of its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers from Gaza without charge or trial. Health workers have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and been held in incommunicado detention,’ Amnesty said. “Israel must immediately release all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, including health workers.”