DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel鈥檚 military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory鈥檚 Health Ministry said.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
Israel鈥檚 military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.
The military claimed to have 鈥渆liminated鈥� dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Israel鈥檚 unrest over Gaza and political issues grew Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.
鈥淚鈥檓 worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,鈥� said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu鈥檚 office. Police said three were arrested.
鈥楧isplacement under fire鈥�
Israel鈥檚 military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the heavily destroyed Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafah. They walked to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza鈥檚 population of over 2 million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.
鈥淚t鈥檚 displacement under fire,鈥� said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.
鈥淭he shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,鈥� said Amal Nassar, also displaced. 鈥淭he elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, 鈥楪o and leave me to die.鈥� Where will we go?鈥�
鈥淓nough is enough. We are exhausted,鈥� said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.
Israel鈥檚 military said it had fired on advancing 鈥渟uspicious vehicles鈥� and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.
In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. 鈥淢y husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,鈥� said witness Nidaa Hassuna.
Strikes kill Hamas leader
Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel鈥檚 military confirmed it.
Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.
Gaza鈥檚 Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel鈥檚 bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, the ministry鈥檚 general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Ceasefire in tatters
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas鈥� Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
In the latest ceasefire鈥檚 first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.
The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire鈥檚 next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages 鈥� 35 of them believed to be dead 鈥� in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began.
New settlements in the West Bank
Israel鈥檚 Cabinet passed a measure creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel鈥檚 far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.
This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. They will receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, the group said.