Dozens of people have been killed in an Israeli bombing raid in the north of the Gaza Strip, according to a Palestinian news agency on Friday.
More than 30 people died in the attack on an apartment block in the city of Beit Lahia and many more were injured, the WAFA agency said.
According to the report, Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching the scene of the attack. Many people are still believed to be trapped under the debris of the houses. Injured and dead people were said to be lying in the streets.
The information could not be verified independently. When asked, the Israeli army said it would investigate the report.
Residents told dpa that dozens of Israeli soldiers raided the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. According to their statements and to media reports, staff and patients were forced to leave the clinic in Beit Lahia. There were also dozens of arrests during the operation.
The director of the hospital, Hussam Abu Safeia, spoke of a catastrophic situation in and around the clinic, with airstrikes and heavy shelling in the area.
As a result of the Israeli operation, he said there are now only two inexperienced surgeons left in the clinic to operate on the 20 patients who urgently need care.
When asked, the Israeli military said it would check the information.
A boy is seen through a hole at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Deir al-Balah. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
