500 Killed in Israeli Strike on Gaza Hospital Grounds

A spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry stated on Tuesday that 500 individuals were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the Gaza Strip.

The ministry's statement noted that "500 people were killed among the displaced individuals who were targeted by the occupation in the hospital courtyard" in central Gaza, with "hundreds under the rubble."

Images from the Al-Ahli Hospital showed fires consuming the hospital wards, with shattered glass and body parts strewn across the area.

The ministry reported a death toll of at least 500.

Several hospitals in the city of Gaza have become shelters for hundreds of people, aiming to avoid bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the city and surrounding areas to evacuate to the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli military spokesperson Admiral Daniel Haggari stated that there are currently no details about the deaths at the hospital: "We will get the details and update the public. I cannot confirm if it was an Israeli airstrike."

In the south, the ongoing airstrikes resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians and at least one senior Hamas official on Tuesday, in attacks claimed to be targeting militants.

The Gaza government's media office condemned in a statement a "new war crime committed by the Israeli occupation in the shelling of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in the middle of Gaza City."

It highlighted that "the hospital housed hundreds of patients, the wounded, and displaced individuals forced out of their homes due to the airstrikes."

Israel continues to carry out strikes in various areas in the Gaza Strip. Earlier, the Gaza government's media office reported that the number of child fatalities due to Israeli attacks in the territory since October 7 had risen to 940 and women to 1032.

According to a new tally released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday, approximately 3,000 people were killed in the Gaza Strip due to the sustained, intensive Israeli bombardment since October 7. The ministry recorded "approximately 3,000 deaths and more than 12,500 injuries" in the Gaza Strip.