Hundreds dead in Gaza hospital bombing, local authorities say

An Israeli air strike killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital on Tuesday, health authorities in the enclave said, and the United Nation said an Israeli strike also hit one of its schools being used as a shelter, Reuters reports.

A Gaza Civil Defence chief said on Al-Jazeera television that more than 300 people were killed at Al-Ahli Al-Arabi Hospital. A Gaza Health Ministry official said at least 500 people were killed and injured. Both departments are under the Hamas-run government.

Israel’s military said it did not have any details on the reported bombing.

Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency, UNRWA, said an Israeli air strike had killed at least six people after striking one of its schools that has been functioning as a shelter for displaced people.

Health authorities in Gaza say at least 3,000 people have been killed in Israel’s intense 11-day bombardment since Hamas rampaged into Israeli towns on 7 October, killing more than 1,300 soldiers and civilians.

Hamas said the blast at the hospital mostly killed displaced people. A senior official for the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, which operates in the West Bank but not in Gaza, described it as a massacre.

READ: Israel has carried out 41 confirmed attacks on health services in Gaza since 7 October – WHO