Gaza(National Times): At least four people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, according to the World Health Organization and a hospital official.

At least four people were killed and 17 others were wounded in the air strike, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Sunday.
Khaled al-Dakran, a spokesman for the hospital, said several journalists were among the wounded in the attack.

Israel’s military said the attack targeted a command centre operated by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.

The Government Media Office in Gaza said the air strike hit a tent where displaced people were sheltering and journalists were working.

Reporting from the hospital grounds, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said displaced Palestinians at the hospital were “terrified” after the attack.

“Everyone is terrified here. They have been seeking refuge inside this hospital for more than six months now,” she said.

Al-Dakran called on the international community to ensure protection for health workers in Gaza.
“Hospitals and medical teams and all health sector workers must be protected and the international community must provide such protection,” he said.

“The patients, the wounded and the displaced are in a state of panic and horror, fearing that the Israeli planes will attack the hospital again.”