A entire residential area near the Kamal Adwan hospital was laid in ruins in the attack early on Thursday, reports the Turkish news agency Anatolia, citing medical sources. According to Anatolia and the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which is subordinate to the Palestinian Authority on the occupied West Bank, more than 60 people have been killed.
According to Wafa, over 100 people are also injured.
Hussam Abu Safia, the head of the Kamal Adwan hospital, tells the news agency AFP that bodies are arriving at the hospital in pieces.
Women and children
According to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera, the hospital chief says that most of the victims were sleeping when the Israeli attack occurred.
A very large number of victims have arrived here, but many bodies are still hanging from walls and ceilings.
According to Abu Safia, most of the victims are women and children.
We cannot handle such a large number of injured and dead, he says.
Rescue efforts are still ongoing after the attack. Due to the collapse of the healthcare system and the lack of formal rescue services, hospital staff are pulling out dead bodies from the rubble with their own hands, writes Wafa.
Further attack
Neither Gaza's civil defense nor the Hamas-controlled health authority has confirmed the death toll in Bait Lahia. As a result of the Israeli siege, access to hospitals and morgues is minimal, even for local authorities. The same applies to internet access.
The city of Gaza, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, was also attacked by Israel during the night. Over 20 people were killed, reports several media outlets.
Among the dead are at least ten children. According to the media company Al Jazeera, which has several employees in Gaza, a multi-story building in the Shaykh Radwan neighborhood was laid in ruins in the attack.
