Israeli Airstrikes Hit Two Gaza Hospitals, Killing at Least 28 Amid Renewed Offensive

GG News Bureau
Gaza/Jerusalem, 14th May: At least 28 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting two hospitals in Gaza on Tuesday, ending a brief pause in bombardment that followed the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, held by Hamas since October 7, 2023.

The Israeli air raids struck the European Hospital complex near Khan Younis and the emergency ward of Nasser Hospital. Six bombs reportedly hit the hospital areas, creating large craters and damaging infrastructure. Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic, with patients and medical staff fleeing in terror. A local bus was seen wedged in a hole created by one of the blasts.

“There was complete panic,” said Dr. Tom Potokar, a plastic surgeon who was inside the hospital at the time. “There were six enormous explosions one after another — no warning whatsoever.”

Journalist Amro Tabash reported that Israeli drones hovered low over the area, deterring rescue efforts. Two civil defence workers were reportedly injured by a quadcopter drone near the European Hospital.

The Israeli military claimed the strikes were aimed at a Hamas command center allegedly operating beneath the hospital, and local media reported that the target was Mohammed Sinwar, brother of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed last year. Hamas, however, denied using hospitals or civilian infrastructure for military operations.

The airstrikes came just hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, “In the very coming days, we are going in with full force to complete the operation,” signalling the continuation of the offensive despite Monday’s release of 21-year-old Edan Alexander.

Netanyahu attributed Alexander’s release to “our military pressure and the political pressure exerted by President Trump,” though Hamas rejected that claim, asserting it was the result of direct ceasefire talks with the United States.

Tuesday’s hospital attacks mark yet another grim chapter in a war that began after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, cross-border assault, which left 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken hostage. Since then, over 52,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the region’s health ministry, with widespread civilian casualties, infrastructure destruction, and a deepening humanitarian crisis due to blocked aid and essential supplies.