Israeli tanks surround north Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital
Israeli tanks have reportedly encircled northern Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital, where the Hamas-run health ministry said 12 people were killed overnight.
The hospital’s director, Dr Marwan Al-Sultan, told the BBC that the post-operative care department was hit and troops were only about 20m (66ft) away.
The Israeli military said its forces targeted “terrorists” who had opened fire at them from within the hospital.
The head of the World Health Organization said he was “appalled”.
“Health workers and civilians should never have to be exposed to such horror, and especially while inside a hospital,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Meanwhile, 28 premature Palestinian babies evacuated on Sunday from Gaza City’s besieged Al-Shifa Hospital, which Israeli forces raided last week, have been transported to Egypt for treatment.
Israel launched a major military campaign in Gaza in response to a cross-border attack by hundreds of Hamas gunmen on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and about 240 others taken hostage.
On Monday morning, video footage verified by the BBC showed several tanks stationed on a road about 240m (800ft) north-east of the Indonesian Hospital, which is funded by Indonesia.
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, cited medical sources as saying that dozens of Israeli armoured vehicles were in the surrounding area and that snipers were on rooftops, preventing ambulances from reaching the hospital.
The health ministry said 12 wounded patients and people with them were killed and dozens more were wounded when an Israeli shell reportedly hit the second floor of the facility.
Dr Sultan told the BBC that he heard gunfire all around the building overnight and that at least 10 people were killed.
Al Jazeera posted a video that the Qatar-based network said showed journalist Anas al-Sharif walking through the hospital following the incident. —BBC
