The death toll from an Israeli strike on the courtyard of Al Aqsa hospital in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah has risen to five, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders.
MSF reported that 65 people were also injured in the strike. The organization, which supports the hospital currently sheltering displaced people, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that this is the seventh time since March 2024 that the Al Aqsa hospital compound has been bombed, with three incidents occurring in the past month alone.
MSF nurse Eliza Sabatini described the devastation: “Tents caught fire while people were sleeping. The hospital treated 40 patients, including 10 children and eight women, many of whom suffered severe burns. Due to limited capacity, 25 additional patients had to be transferred,” she said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated it had carried out a “precise strike” targeting a Hamas command center within the site and claimed it took measures to minimize civilian harm, attributing the risks to Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure.
Earlier, a separate strike reportedly hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, where officials from Gaza’s Al Awda and Al Aqsa hospitals said at least 22 people were killed. The school had been sheltering more than 5,000 displaced people, according to Gaza’s civil defense.
As a result of the strikes, the United Nations canceled polio vaccinations scheduled for the area, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini confirmed.
Netanyahu says allegations that Israel is deliberately targeting UN peacekeepers are “completely false.”
Israel requested an advanced missile defense system from the U.S. several weeks ago, according to a U.S. defense official and a source familiar with the discussions.
This request follows the Pentagon’s Sunday announcement that it would be sending a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel, along with approximately 100 U.S. troops to operate the system. The U.S. has only seven THAAD systems in its inventory, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the U.S. deployed a THAAD battery to the Middle East, though the Pentagon did not specify the system’s location.
The defense official noted that Israel’s request was made at least as early as the September 27 Israeli strike that killed Hassan Nasrallah.
Nasrallah’s death occurred just days before Iran launched over 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1. Although many missiles were intercepted, some managed to penetrate Israel’s aerial defense network.
