caption,
Police use an ice cream truck to dump bodies at the AlAqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Gaza Strip
4 hours ago
Warning: This report contains information and images that some readers may find disturbing.
A hospital in the central region of the Gaza Strip is on the verge of collapse due to the increasing number of victims from bomb attacks in recent days.
According to reporter Adnan ElBursh from the BBC’s Arabic service, bodies wrapped in white sheets lie in the outer courtyard of AlAqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah and staff are rushing to treat so many patients.
“We have been here since dawn and the bodies filled the entire hospital yard. This is in addition to the bodies in cold storage which are full inside and outside the hospital building,” said an employee.
“We don’t have enough tissue for the bodies because the number is huge. All bodies arrive in parts, loose and in pieces. We cannot identify them because the bodies were disfigured and crushed.”
Images taken at the scene show a large stream of vehicles carrying injured people arriving at the hospital. Some can walk to the hospital, others are carried.
“Frankly the situation is catastrophic, it’s unbearable,” the hospital worker told the BBC.
“Despite everything we’ve seen so far, these are scenes we’ve never seen before.”
Deir Al Balah is located in the central region of the Gaza Strip, approximately 19 kilometers south of Gaza City.
Photos taken at AlAqsa Hospital also show the bodies of at least 11 children including two babies. The images come from a photographer who works for the AFP news agency. The BBC has decided not to publish the photos.
One of the images shows dead children lying side by side on a sheet, some with visible injuries to their heads. Another shows a child in a man’s arms both are dead and the man has an obvious facial injury.
It is unclear when and where the people in the photos died.
Deir Al Balah was hit by Israeli attacks last week. The city lies outside the evacuation zone in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israel has urged civilians to leave the country and flee south.
caption,
Courtyard of AlAqsa Hospital
Hagari said the airstrikes would help reduce risks to Israeli forces concentrated on the border.
He called on Palestinian civilians in Gaza to continue moving to the south of the Gaza Strip for their own safety, especially those living in Gaza City.
According to Hamas, more than 30 houses were destroyed hours after the increased shelling.
According to the Palestinian group’s health ministry, 266 people were killed in the last 24 hours, including 117 children. This would bring the total number of deaths since Israel’s offensive in Gaza began to 4,651.
The Israeli military claims nighttime airstrikes killed “dozens of terrorists,” including a senior Hamas commander.
The group is officially classified as a terrorist organization by Britain, the United States and other countries.
The Israeli bombings followed deadly Hamas attacks on military posts and kibbutzes near Gaza on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people and capturing 200 hostages.
Fuel for water and electricity
Trucks carrying donations of medicine, food and other basic supplies are expected in Gaza this Sunday.
Images taken at the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt show members and volunteers of the humanitarian organization Red Crescent gathered next to trucks heading to Gaza.
There is still an expectation that tankers will be able to cross the border, but it is not yet clear whether they will be allowed to enter.
According to the United Nations, the fuel is needed in Gaza for water desalination and to power generators in hospitals.
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned last week that hospitals in Gaza risk being turned into morgues without electricity.
After the Hamas attack on October 7, Israel shut off electricity and most water and stopped deliveries of food and medicine to Gaza.
The country said services would be restored once the group releases the more than 200 hostages it was holding in Gaza.