The deadly strike comes as Israel faces mounting accusations of intentionally targeting journalists in Gaza, which it denies.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 128 journalists have been killed in Gaza during Israel’s yearlong offensive in the enclave. CPJ has warned that more journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of Israel’s offensive in Gaza than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.
Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces named six journalists working with Al Jazeera, saying they had been “exposed as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.” CPJ responded to the claim saying Israel has “repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence.”
The network has also denied the accusations as “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region.”
Dozens killed in Khan Younis and chaos at northern Gaza hospital
Meanwhile, in Gaza, the health ministry said that 38 people had been killed and dozens injured in Israeli strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis. It also said that Israeli forces had “stormed and are present inside” the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia as they continued a deadly assault on the enclave’s north,.
The health ministry said hundreds of patients, medical staff and displaced Palestinians who had sought shelter at the hospital amid widespread Israeli strikes in northern Gaza had been detained by Israeli forces.
“The situation inside the hospital is catastrophic in every sense of the word,” the health ministry said.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on the strikes in Khan Younis or the situation at the hospital Friday morning.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his organization had lost touch with personnel at the hospital.
“This development is deeply disturbing given the number of patients being served and sheltering there,” he said, adding that the hospital was “overflowing with close to 200 patients” and hundreds of people seeking shelter.
He noted that prior to the reported raid, WHO and other partners had managed to reach the hospital late Thursday night and transfer at least 23 patients and 26 caregivers to Al-Shifa hospital. He said the team also delivered 180 units of blood, trauma and surgical supplies and medicine.
COGAT, Israel’s military liaison with the Palestinians, said in a statement Friday it had helped facilitate the transfer. It also said fuel was delivered to the facility. COGAT made no reference to the raid reported at the hospital in its statement and did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from NBC News.
Israel has waged a weekslong ramped up offensive in northern Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of a spiraling humanitarian crisis as access to food, water and other vital supplies dwindle.
More than 600 people have been killed in the offensive, according to local health officials.
The IDF said Friday that its forces were continuing their assault on the Jabalia refugee camp, from which thousands of people have fled amid heavy airstrikes. It said its troops were also active in both southern and central Gaza, where Israeli forces launched a deadly strike Thursday on a school in the area of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
At least 18 people were killed and 30 injured in the strike, with children and women among the casualties, Dr. Mohammed Al-Mughair of Gaza’s Civil Defense agency told NBC News.
Al-Mughair said the strike appeared to target a prayer hall inside the school, which he said housed a large number of displaced families.
The IDF said its forces were targeting Hamas militants operating inside a “command and control center” in the school compound. The IDF did not say whether any Hamas members were killed in the strike, but said it “makes great efforts to prevent harming uninvolved civilians.”
In London following the culmination of his Middle East tour, Blinken met with the foreign minister of regional broker Jordan, Ayman Safadi, who rebuked Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Gaza, accusing the country of “ethnic cleansing” with its deadly offensive in northern Gaza.
He also appeared to criticize Washington’s efforts to restrain Israel’s actions in the region, saying: “We have an Israeli government that is not listening to anybody.”
