Khan Yunis, Nov 12 (V7N)- At least six Palestinians have been killed and 20 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.
The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health and Civil Defence reported the casualties on Thursday, November 12.
According to the authorities, most of those killed and injured were patients in the attack on the hospital's surgery department on the second floor early Thursday morning.
The strike marks the seventh time Israeli forces have attacked Nasser Hospital, one of the main medical facilities in southern Gaza, in recent years.
Nasser Hospital is currently the only remaining health centre in the Khan Yunis area, serving at least half a million people who depend on it for medical care.
The Israeli military said it had carried out the operation to target a Hamas member staying at the hospital. Hamas, however, condemned the incident as a war crime and called for urgent international intervention to ensure implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Hospitals are afforded protection under international humanitarian law, although medical facilities have repeatedly come under attack during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
According to health authorities, at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire agreement was reached in October last year.
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