Israeli missiles strike Gaza hospital

GAZA, Apr 13 (Reuters): Two Israeli missiles hit a building inside a main Gaza hospital on Sunday, destroying the emergency and reception department and damaging other structures, medics said, in a strike which Israel said was against Hamas fighters exploiting the facility.

Health officials at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital evacuated the patients from the building after one person said he received a call from someone who identified himself with the Israeli security shortly before the attack took place.

No casualties were reported, according to the civil emergency service. The Israeli military said in a statement it had taken steps to reduce harm to civilians before it struck the compound, which was being used by Hamas militants to plan attacks.

The hospital, an institution of the Anglican Church, was a major medical facility in Gaza City, according to the Gaza health ministry, which is now out of operation because of the attack.

"Hundreds of patients and injured people had to be evacuated in the middle of the night, and many of them are now out in the streets without medical care, which puts their lives at risk," Khalil Al-Deqran, the ministry's spokesperson, told Reuters.

Images circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed dozens of people leaving the premises, with some appearing to be dragging sick relatives on hospital beds.

The Palestinian foreign ministry and Hamas condemned the attack at Al-Ahli, and said in a statement that Israel was destroying Gaza's healthcare system.

Israel says Hamas systematically exploits civilian structures, including hospitals, which the militant group denies. Israeli forces have carried out numerous raids in medical facilities in the enclave.

In October 2023, a deadly blast at a parking lot in the compound of Al-Ahli hospital was blamed by Hamas on an Israeli air strike. Israel said a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group had caused the blast.

The militant group denied it was responsible. An investigation by Human Rights Watch later concluded the 2023 explosion was most likely caused by a failed Palestinian rocket launch.

Sunday's strikes came hours after leaders from the Hamas group visited Cairo to hold talks with Egyptian mediators over ways to salvage the stalled ceasefire agreement. Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have stepped up efforts to bridge the gaps between Hamas and Israel.