Israel’s military struck a yard at the al-Shifa Hospital complex, where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering, Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said on Friday.
“Israel is now undertaking these dangerous steps against the hospitals to put them completely out of commission and subsequently displace the people sheltering in them, as well as the patients and medics,” al-Qudra told Al Jazeera.
Israel’s military has said that Hamas operates a command center at the site of the hospital, including entrances to its extensive tunnel network, which Hamas and hospital officials have denied.
Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director general of al-Shifa Hospital, said the strike hit civilians located next to a number of journalists in the yard, wounding four, including two critically.
Video of the apparent aftermath of the attack showed several people screaming and scrambling for cover, and an injured man lying on the pavement in a pool of blood.
Al-Qudra said that two children’s hospitals, Al-Rantisi and Al-Nasr, had also been hit by “direct attacks and bombardments” on Friday.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry also reported that explosions overnight damaged the Indonesian Hospital overnight, which sits at the northern end of the enclave with thousands of wounded and displaced Palestinians sheltering nearby.
Holding up missile shrapnel, Atef al-Kahlout, the hospital’s director, said, “This is what the occupation is throwing at hospitals: missile shrapnel.”
The attack on al-Shifa is the latest in a series of reported strikes on or near the Gaza City hospital in recent days.
Last week, Israel’s military bombed an ambulance outside the hospital, killing 15 people, according to Palestinian officials.
On Monday, Al Jazeera and Palestinian media reported that Israeli forces had struck solar panels providing electricity to the medical complex, prompting denials by Israeli officials.
Israel’s military has repeatedly ordered the hospital to evacuate in recent weeks, drawing condemnation from humanitarian groups that say medical facilities must be spared from fighting.