After a deadly attack on the European Hospital in Khan Younis Tuesday, patients who managed to escape and people trying to find loved ones were forced to navigate huge craters marring the medical centre’s courtyard, as mangled slabs of cracked concrete jutted up from the street in every direction.
The craters were the result of nine missiles fired at the hospital by Israel, killing at least 16 people and wounding 70 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It was the second Israeli attack of the day targeting hospitals in the Gaza Strip, after an earlier airstrike hit the Nasser Medical Complex, also in Khan Younis, killing two patients, including a well-known journalist.
Some patients at the European Hospital were wheeled out of the building on gurneys while others leaned on people helping them limp away as members of the civil defence conducted rescue operations.
Rasmiya Al-Saleh sat on a gurney in the middle of the street. The visibly shaken 45-year-old was wrapped in blue and white blankets, leaning against a bundle of red blankets that held her meagre belongings, as she asked passersby to find her a car. She was at the hospital to have someone look at her broken leg when the missile strike happened.
“They told me to get out,” she told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife. “They didn’t examine me or do any tests or anything.”
Israeli strikes separately hit two hospitals in Gaza on Tuesday, with the second strike leaving at least 16 dead and 70 injured at the European Hospital, according to Palestinian authorities. CBC freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife captured the aftermath at the hospital.
Abdul Karim Al-Khamis, 35, was inside the hospital with his father, who was waiting to be evacuated abroad for treatment, when they heard a loud explosion and realized they were under attack.
“There are people in the ICU, there are people in the rooms,” he told CBC News from the damaged courtyard where many people milled about looking for ambulances or cars to take them away from the destruction.
“It’s the only hospital in the south. Where can we go?”
In a statement posted to Telegram, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had conducted a “precise” strike to hit a “Hamas command center” beneath the European Hospital. Hamas denies exploiting hospitals and civilian properties for military purposes.
Journalist killed in Nasser Hospital strike
The Gaza Health Ministry said two patients were killed in the earlier attack on Nasser Medical Complex, including Hassan Aslih, a well-known Palestinian journalist who was recovering there from an earlier strike.
Israel had accused Aslih of taking part in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, and said he had documented and uploaded footage of “looting, arson and murder” during the Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw some 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s responding ground and air invasion has killed more than 52,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The IDF said in a statement that it struck “significant Hamas terrorists who were operating from within a command and control center” located at the Nasser Hospital. It didn’t name them.
Ahmed Siyyam, a Gaza civil emergency service member, told Reuters the attack hit the third floor of the Nasser hospital, where dozens of patients and injured were being treated.
Reuters footage showed heavy damage to one of the hospital buildings, including to the medical equipment and beds inside.
“I came to the hospital not knowing whether to mourn the martyrs, treat the patients and injured, or deal with the staff who no longer feel safe,” said Atef Al-Hout, the director of Nasser Hospital.
