GAZA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Gaza's health authorities on Tuesday condemned an Israeli strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis that killed at least three people, including a Palestinian journalist, and wounded dozens, as the enclave's healthcare system teeters on the brink of collapse.
In a statement, officials described the attack as "a violation of medical neutrality" and warned that continued Israeli operations, combined with restrictions on the entry of medical supplies, had pushed Gaza's health infrastructure to the point of total breakdown.
The strike caused extensive damage to hospital units and injured several medical staff, the statement said.
Among the dead was Hassan Eslieh, a Palestinian journalist who was being treated at the facility for injuries sustained in an earlier Israeli airstrike on April 7. Eslieh, who worked as a field correspondent and director for the Alam 24 news agency, was remembered by colleagues and local media for his reporting on the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
The Hamas-run government media office condemned what it described as the "systematic targeting" of journalists and urged the international community to hold Israel accountable. Eslieh's death brought the number of journalists killed in the conflict since Oct. 7, 2023, to 215, according to the office.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also mourned Eslieh's death, praising his efforts to document the situation on the ground.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in a statement released earlier Tuesday, said the Nasser hospital compound had been used by Hamas operatives to plan and launch attacks against Israeli forces and civilians. The statement alleged that senior Hamas official Ismail Barhoum, believed killed in a previous Israeli strike in March, had operated from the hospital. Barhoum was described as Hamas' top leader in Gaza and head of its financial and institutional networks.
"Senior Hamas officials continue to use the hospital for terrorist activity, through cynical and brutal use of the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings," the IDF said, adding that it had used precision munitions, aerial surveillance and other intelligence to minimize civilian casualties.
The latest strike comes amid continued Israeli air raids across the Gaza Strip and a worsening humanitarian crisis. On Tuesday, Israeli warplanes reportedly targeted several locations, including a residential building sheltering displaced people in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City. One woman was killed and several others wounded, according to local reports.
Gaza health authorities said the death toll from the Israeli offensive, which began in October 2023, has risen to 52,908. ■
